*Be Inspired Bible Studies Thursday 29th June 2019*
*Topic:* Call or cry for change
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
1 Chronicles 4:10 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/1ch.4.10.KJV
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushan–rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan–rishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord : and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord . And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord , the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present. But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.
Judges 3:10-24 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/jdg.3.10-24.KJV
Eternal father we are here before you. We are not taking it for granted lord because we trust you to do that which you alone can do
Lord speak to us and through us. Enlighten us through the Holy spirit open our spiritual understanding. Have your way king of kings and at the end let your me be glorified in Jesus mighty name
Amen
When we hear the word call or cry what do we think let us make it interactive.
To cry can be classified as weeping or yelling out loud
Call can be a solemn saying of word at thesame time it could be a loud response or order to something
In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Jabez was a better man than his brothers, a man of honor. His mother had named him Jabez (Oh, the pain!), saying, “A painful birth! I bore him in great pain!” Jabez prayed to the God of Israel: “Bless me, O bless me! Give me land, large tracts of land. And provide your personal protection—don’t let evil hurt me.” God gave him what he asked.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/1ch.4.9-10.MSG
This famous verse of the Bible about Jabez explained to us that Jabez who was named great pain due to the president his mother was at the time of his birth called unto God.
The call Jabez made here was to get the attention of God for a changed he believed was deserved.
Does it mean that Jabez hasn't made any call to anything before?
I am not sure cause It's not recorded
The call for change will come from a heart that is thirsty for change indeed
You know if Jabez was complacent to the condition he was birth in
He will not even bother to call on his creator
The life of Jabez everywhere and every time his name was mentioned drew the attention of pain to him.
Imagine going for an interview and when the interviewer wants to call the person's name they say
Miss or Mr Pain.
Except God is involved the name alone stands as a barrier.
But hang on a minute after Jabez call to God his name was not changed but his situation was changed
The name you bear is important but what you call yourself is more important than anything
Jabez call to God drew the attention that brought change to his life
That is so right..
So crying at times without the right direction doesn't bring any change infact it leads to health issues.
...........................................,;
But the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God ’s sight. So God made Eglon king of Moab a power against Israel because they did evil in God ’s sight. He recruited the Ammonites and Amalekites and went out and struck Israel. They took the City of Palms. The People of Israel were in servitude to Eglon fourteen years. The People of Israel cried out to God and God raised up for them a savior, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite. He was left-handed. The People of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon king of Moab. Ehud made himself a short two-edged sword and strapped it on his right thigh under his clothes. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Eglon was grossly fat. After Ehud finished presenting the tribute, he went a little way with the men who had carried it. But when he got as far as the stone images near Gilgal, he went back and said, “I have a private message for you, O King.” The king told his servants, “Leave.” They all left. Ehud approached him—the king was now quite alone in his cool rooftop room—and said, “I have a word of God for you.” Eglon stood up from his throne. Ehud reached with his left hand and took his sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s big belly. Not only the blade but the hilt went in. The fat closed in over it so he couldn’t pull it out. Ehud slipped out by way of the porch and shut and locked the doors of the rooftop room behind him. Then he was gone. When the servants came, they saw with surprise that the doors to the rooftop room were locked. They said, “He’s probably relieving himself in the restroom.” They waited. And then they worried—no one was coming out of those locked doors. Finally, they got a key and unlocked them. There was their master, fallen on the floor, dead!
Judges 3:12-25 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/jdg.3.12-25.MSG
The story above talked about the children of Israel...
In summary they found themself in a foreign place where they dwelt among people of different faith
Instead of standing out they blended in infact they began to worship the gods of the land
God became angry towards them and they were punished.
But they God deliverance because they cried unto God and God raised a deliverer in their midst
After the deliverer died they went back into their old ways
The deliver saved them for forty years they had piece
Then when they went into this ungodly activities again they drew the attention of the wrath of God unto themselves
And God gave them into the hands of Eglon to suffer
For fourteen years they were in servitude to Eglon
Imagine from freedom to servitude
What a life?
When it became unbearable they called unto God and God raised Ehud to deliver Them
The task that Ehud had was to put an end to the life of Eglon
The Bible explained how Ehud was left handed and Eglon was obese man fat man 👴🏻
After they Israelites delivered the gift they wanted to give to Eglon Ehud approached him and said king I have a message for you
He king told his servants and soldiers to live him alone with Ehud
They were on the inner chambers and Ehud brought the knife out infact after killing Eglon the knife sank into his belly cause the fat was so much
Ehud on the other hand left unscratched and free.
Your call or cry can either lead to instant change or for God to raise an agent of change.
Years ago Nigeria had a ruler who made life really unbearable for the citizen
I read online that everytime that they reheat the fire in hell this former tiller of Nigeria send money back to Nigeria from his foreign account where he kept the money and the Nigerian government will say they have retrieved another account with some of this money😆😆 it sound as joke.
Jabez situation might have seemed okay from the point of his mother who gave him that name but to Jabez he was not ready to settle in that situation for the rest of his life
If the children of Israel didn't cry to God and repent of their sin they would have served longer under servitude to Eglon
Do you know what you do not crave in life at times cannot cross your path
Many desire change indeed but once they talk about it they fail to take necessary action
Ehud didn't take an action against the will of God
If he had he would have gotten killed by The security of Eglon
But he did what God asked him to do and walked free.
I Am not encouraging violence or for anyone to kill anyone
I am trying to open our mind to the fact that something will remain thesame except the spiritual Barking is settled
Jabez could have cried to the gods of his land it doesn't warrant the change he desired will be his
If Israel were still sinking in serving other gods and disobeying the most High king they would have served Eglon more infact it would probably be worse than Egypt if they didn't cry to God
I don't know how you call on God
What you consistently declare is what you will see manifesting?
When you cry to God it doesn't necessarily mean tears alone it means getting the attention needed at that time.
Imagine little children playing and they start shouting
The place becomes so noisy
The adult there will look for means to out them.in order
But if one of them cries out either due to being picked on or anything that adult will go beyond soothing their tears they will want to know why they are crying and try to do what is right to keep them happy.
God is the God that brings about change
Your attention and intention of crying to God is down to the longing you have deep inside of you
You might be the Ehud of someone as well as the Jabez of yourself
Jabez call led to his deliverance while the cry of the Israelites led to God choosing a man to stand as their deliverer.
Who are you calling?
Who are you crying to?
Change is constant in life but it only happens to significant things that we desire to see change on.
It is inevitable that we all experience change in our daily life because we grow daily
But some situation will not experience that change except we call or cry to God.
May the spirit of God enlighten us more in Jesus name
I pray for as many who are at the verge of giving up today God will hear your cry as you call on Him.
You have been crying the tears are becoming unbearable henceforth you will smile because the Lord will raise a deliverer on your behalf
The one who have subjected you to servitude like Eglon today God will put an end to their reign in Jesus name.
That theme that seem to be a generational one but is unpleasant to you as you call on God today the change will happen and the theme will be changed to your favour in Jesus name.
One thing you should note about Jabez and the children of Israel is even when the going was getting tough and rough they didn't give up so for you who is saying if this is it just take my life
You still have a lot to fulfill
That situation is turning to testimony.
Kings will come to your horizon
You will be sought after
Any will know God through your testimony
The day for you to testify is here and now it will not end in bad news.
You already have the one who is goodnews in you and your news will turn to goodnews henceforth in Jesus name.
Do not forget never to relent on calling or crying unto God for change you desire and let your faith be active
If God out you on a mission don't worry He will make provision to fulfill that mission
Thank you lord for today's study we ask lord to enlighten us more even off this platform speak to us as individual and as group. Open our eyes, ears, mind to receive that which you want us to. Lead is to the path you want us to go and let your name be glorified in Jesus name
Amen
