Anyone
who ever tells you that Jesus went to the cross with a grudge, or reluctantly,
doesn’t know their Bible very well. It was a choice that he made, in his
heart, in heaven before he was ever sent to the earth. The Bible says “He was the lamb slain before the
foundations of the world."
In
Matthew 26 we find Judas ready to betray Jesus with a kiss. Verse
52 records Peter’s quickness to defend Jesus against this betrayal, as he
endeavors to remove the ear of a young man. Jesus says something amazing
in the next verse. He says: “Peter, with one quick prayer the Father
will send me more than 12 legions of angels, RIGHT NOW!
He
could have walked away from that cross at any time, yet chose to
embrace it for you and me.
What's
your point? Glad you asked!
It
wasn't just embracing death, and death on the cross, it was also the
dignity and honor, the integrity and faith that he walked in – as He drank that
cup. Remember the garden? Remember the cup?
Luke
22:42. “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, NEVER THE
LESS! NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE.”
He,
Jesus, took the cup and drank it. He did it with God-like character,
honor and with dignity. He went before the governors and priests, and
Pilate himself and walked with dignity.
He took the
stripes, the mocking, the beatings, the shame, as well the nails, the crown of
thorns, all of it, and did it with dignity and love. He didn't fuss, or
throw a fit, He walked through all of it with honor; giving us a great example
of what humility and integrity really is.
Scripture
says "Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you
up in due time. "
I
believe the shaking we are presently experiencing in the church is going to
give us opportunity to model the example of Jesus as he went to the cross to
fulfill the destiny the Father had established for his life.
I
believe the Father is the one doing, allowing, permitting, and behind the
shaking; and it's here for this time because God is looking for those that are
looking for Him.
As
I humble myself under the MIGHTY hand of God 1Pet. 5:6, and allow
this season to do what it's designed to do, when I come through it, I will look
more like the Son of God. Then, the Father will trust me enough to lift
me up.
How does the CUP OF THE
LORD relate to us?
Glad
you asked!
Judges
7 is an amazing story of God separating to Himself something special. You
know the story.
Gideon
was ready to go to battle with the enemy. He started with 32,000, and God
worked it down to 10,000. Verse 3: “whosoever is fearful and
afraid, Go home!” Then God says to Gideon: “Son, you take the
people down to the water, I'm looking for an army to war against my
enemy. The way I'll prepare this army is, LET THEM HAVE A DRINK OF
WATER!"
Sounds
like easy boot camp to me!
Remember
God is establishing an army in this story, yet in the whole chapter you never
find him speaking of skilled warriors. He doesn’t talk about those skilled with
sword and shield, and you never find him talking of potential generals or
military strategists. God never speaks of strong men or equipped men; He just
speaks of those men who know how to drink water PROPERLY!
Remember, we're talking about - " The cup of the Lord "
Vs.
4: “Gideon, bring them down to the water, and I'll try them there
for you.”
Here we find…. The watering hole in
Vs.1 ‘Harod’ is the
place the Father is going to try the people.
Harod, in the
Hebrew means: "A fountain of trembling" or simply, “Tremble "
To
tremble: A season of involuntary shaking. That's right! Webster
defines the word. “Tremble:
A season, or period of involuntary shaking "
No
one signed up for this thing, there are no waiting lists to get involved
with the shaking, it just happened. And God chose that place to try His
people.
The
next thing to know is the word "try"
in vs.4 - It is quite important to the story.
q
The Hebrew the word “Tsaw-raf” (this
is what Gods doing with us today) means to: “fuse metal, i.e. refine;
purge away; to purge gold and silver for the purpose of separating what's
impure from what's precious and authentic.”
Question: "How
do we know when the liquid gold and silver is purged and pure?”
Answer: “When the gold
smith can see his reflection in the liquid.”
God
is the Gold Smith, and He is refining us with the intention of being able to
look to the earth (church first) and see the reflection of His Son
Jesus. If He chooses to use a season of shaking to refine us (It
seems that He does) Well, He is just big enough to do what he wants.
I'm grateful it's always for my good and growth, and for His glory!
One
important thing that I almost forgot to mention: you have a choice in the
matter!
Well,
at least He lets us think we have a choice. The bible says in verse 5: “So
He brought down....." I think it's pretty important that
we submit to this season, recognizing it's the hand of God.
The
word “down” always speaks
of the position of submission and humility. It's a posture that is
quite attractive to the Father.
We
MUST choose to surrender and “go down” We must embrace the season for
what it is.
1Pet.5:6,
“Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.....”
Ø The
Greek word for “under” - in that verse is “hupo”.
Ø HUPO
means to: ”position; to situate
myself (I DO IT! I CHOOSE TO DO IT!) Under something higher; to abide and or to
remain.”
CHURCH: This is a season of shaking. In this
season, hunker down under Gods hand, and let this shaking do whatever it's
ordained to do in your life.
God
almighty will shake everything we are about for the purpose of shaking
loose what doesn’t belong.
Ø
He'll shake our marriages, to reveal weak
spots.
Ø
He'll shake ministry in hopes that we'll let OUR
ministry go, to hold on to HIS MINISTRY!
Ø
He'll shake our finances to reveal our hearts.
The
thing that brings me PEACE is that HE is in control!
Embrace
the shaking, stay planted under His hand and let Him do it. He'll get you
through to the other side.
So,
He brings these folks down to Harod to tremble; then he says: "Drink!" Three
hundred men got it right!
Everyone
has an opinion about this part of our story. I've always wondered why
those who “lapped like a dog got to go to war.”
What
if it had been the other way around and 9,700 lapped and only three hundred
bowed down (vs.6) would the 9,700 have gone to war? I don't
know! But what I do know is that this point is very important to
us.
God
took them down to the water for the purpose of finding himself an army.
Here's the test: I'm setting a drink of water before you, in the same
way I set a cup before my son Jesus in the garden. Now, how are you
gonna' drink this cup.
You're
drinking from the waters of Harod, "tremble" A
season of shaking!
Let's
look at verse 5: the word “lappeth” means “to lick.”
Pretty simple, huh?
When
you watch a dog lap water it's bit by bit, little by little.
He drinks it slow, and NEVER BECOMES OVERWHELMED by it.
So,
as we go through this shaking, never let yourself become overwhelmed by
it. We take the cup of shaking bit by bit and little by little.
Drink what's before us, with integrity and dignity.
The same way Jesus drank the cup that was set before him.
He
separated the “lappers” from the “drinkers.” (KJV) Watch
this: The word “drink” in vs.5 is a primitive root that means “imbibe”.
Webster
defines imbibe: “To absorb, soak, assimilate, conceive, to receive into
the mind and retain; TO BE DRUNK!
“Drunk”
simply means: “you became overwhelmed by what you drank.” You're
not controlling what's in the cup, what's in the cup is controlling you.
The
cup that God is serving up is a cup of shaking. It rarely tastes good,
and hardly ever sits well on the stomach.
How are you drinking what He has set before you?
He
just wants to know how are you going to drink the water!
Are
you being overwhelmed by this season of shaking? Or have you been
able to walk out this season in dignity and integrity?
Drunk folks seem to always have problem.
1.
Their walk is affected. How are you
walking out this season before God?
2. Their
speech is affected. How’s your prayer life?
Are
you confessing what you see, or what his word says? 2 Cor.5:7
3.
Their Judgment (discernment) seems to go kinda' haywire.
How
are you perceiving this season and what's happening in your life?
I
think the Father has us in a place very much like he had Israel at Harod in
Gideon’s time. It's a place of shaking; it's a cup of shaking.
Everything
in my life is being shaken, turned upside down and inside out. God today
is asking us, "How are you going
to drink what I have set before you?”
The
Father longs to find sons who mirror the image, the character and the dignity
that Jesus walked in. Beloved, take the cup and drink it bit by bit, and
little by little, and let Jesus be fashioned in your life.
