God Has a Message for You

Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.  And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and defeated Israel, and they possessed the city of the palm trees.  The sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
But when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.  Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.  It came about when he had finished presenting the tribute, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 
But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he said, “Keep silence.” And all who attended him left him.  Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat.  Ehud stretched out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out.  Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.
Judges 3:12-22 NASB

For eighteen years the children of Israel lived in servitude to this foreign king who grew wealthy and powerful and lived off of the proceeds of the slavery. However, it says afterward that they began to cry.  Whats interesting is that a lot of times we'll be in slavery to sin and serving it until finally in our heart something causes us to cry out and say, "God help me!" The children of Israel had given themselves over to idolatry, to this world to pursue it. God had allowed this world to consume them and bring them into bondage. For eighteen years that Moabite King had lived off of the hard labor of the Israelite's bondage. During that time I don't know how many times the message of God had come to him but in this passage, the message of God came to him in the form of judgement. "This night thy soul shall be required of thee!" I want to look today at the message God wants to speak to each one of us. God has a message for you. When we refuse to listen or scoff at His message, the end result is one of judgement. In Psalm 19:1 it says;

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.

He said in creation the voice of God has gone forth! In Matthew 7 He says that every man has heard the word of God.

It may not be through the preaching of some missionary or through showing up at some church, the word says that all creation is declaring the Glory of God! 
Romans 1 says every man is accountable to God because all creation declares the glory of God. All creation is testifying of God and His fingerprint is everywhere for those who are willing to hear and to see and to listen.

Even now, for those reading this devotional, the wise and foolish have both heard the word of God! The foolish scoff at the word and set it aside. They have no place for it in their hearts.

We are receiving in our minds every day, messages from this world.

Psalm 1 tells us;

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

The wise man meditates upon the word of God. He builds his life upon the foundation of it and clings to it as his very life.

The one thing in common with the foolish and the wise is that they both experienced the wind, the rain and the storm. These storms reveal the foundation you have been building upon and the value of the house you have been building.

People want God to speak plainly to them but what we don't realize is that He is speaking to us everyday.


It's not that God's not speaking to us it's that we are not willing to hear what He is saying.

We want God to speak to us peace and safety and pleasant things but when He begins to say, "Repent! Turn from your ways!," our hearts say, "Is that really God?"

Many times God will bring people who speak into our lives and give us a word but they don't always tell us what we want to hear and we say, "That can't be what God is saying."

God often has to bring us to a place of humility, like the children of Israel to humble us and cause us to hear the word of the Lord.

He is not as the gods of this world that cannot see or hear or speak. He desires communion with us and He went through the same humility, betrayal and struggles you may have gone through but without sin so that He could be a faithful High Priest to us. 

Because we would not listen in our times of prosperity, God will allow hard and difficult things to happen because His earnest desire is relationship with us. If you find yourself in a difficult place and your not sure what to do, take heart that God hasn't forgotten about you. Cry out to the Lord and go back to the last thing you remember God telling you to do. To the best of your ability be obedient and listen to what God would speak to you in that place. Cast your cares upon the Lord today, because He cares for you. Don't lose hope as you wait patiently for Him to speak to your heart. When He does speak, don't be double-minded but instead listen and obey the Lord's voice. 


I warned you when you felt secure,
    but you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth;
    you have not obeyed me.
22 The wind will drive all your shepherds away,
    and your allies will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced
    because of all your wickedness.
                          Jeremiah 22:21-22



For further study today, consider this video;