elijah web solutions blog

Dan’s Destiny

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim . . . -Judges 17:1 (NLT)

At this point Judges takes a different turn. From here on until the end of the book, there aren’t any more judges who preside over God’s people. Instead, we’re told two stories that highlight how low Israel had sunk spiritually.

The first story is about a man named Micah who had a collection of idols. He took his idol worship very seriously, so much so that he hired a wandering Levite, which was the priestly tribe in Israel, to be a holy man of sorts for his household.

As this was happening, the people from the Tribe of Dan were looking for a place to settle in. They sent some men to scout out an area that caused them to cross paths with Micah’s household, including the “priest.” They went on their mission and decided to take the land they had scouted. They made a return trip to Micah’s home, only this time with a group of armed men. They took Micah’s idols and convinced his “priest” to leave and serve as their spiritual advisor (Judges 18:30-31).

Micah’s idols and this crooked Levite formed the spiritual foundation for the Tribe of Dan. What’s interesting is that Dan doesn’t have a positive impact in Israel’s history from this time forward. In fact, Dan becomes the tribe that introduces idolatry into the rest of the nation before being conquered (1 Kings 12:25-33). It’s no wonder Dan’s destiny would involve idolatry, because that was Dan’s foundation.

Our foundations, the things that our lives are based on, will ultimately dictate our destiny. It’s a simple matter of reaping and sowing. If we’re founded on the things that aren’t of God, then we’re going to experience ungodly consequences. On the other hand, if we’re founded on Him, we’re going to experience a life and destiny that’s wonderful beyond our comprehension.

So that’s my hope for my family. That we would experience of life founded on Christ, not on things that are not of God. I want a life that is about God experiences for my family. I pray that you want the same. God wants us to prosper and have hope…in Him, not in the things of the world. A smart man reminded me once that T.D. Jakes once said, it’s OK to have things, just don’t things have you!

In Christ gratefully,

Keith
idols, or

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
— Colossians 3:16

“You must spend a lot of time handling counterfeit money to know what it looks like,” said Ruth Bell Graham to a man from Scotland Yard, who was in charge of identifying counterfeit money.

“No,” he replied. “We never touch the stuff. All day long, we just handle the real thing: genuine currency. And when a counterfeit bill comes our way—we can quickly detect it.”

As a Christian, you could go nuts trying to keep up with the latest heresies and counterfeit teachings people spread in this world. But if you familiarize yourself with the Word of God and become conversant with it, you will immediately recognize counterfeit teachings.

You will hear someone say something and think, This isn’t right. You will know what God’s Word truly says and what it doesn’t say, because God will give you spiritual discernment.

Spend time today studying the real thing. If ever there was a time we needed spiritual discernment, the time is now.

In the words of the Apostle Paul, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
— Romans 8:28

God, in His mercy, can also take the tragedies of life and use them. God can take the most evil deed and work in spite of it.

The apostle Paul made this point in Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Paul includes what we perceive as “good things,” as well as the bad things.

It’s hard for us to understand how a bad thing can ultimately work together for good. There is nothing good about what happened to the 150,000 people who died in Southeast Asia during the 2004 tsunami. It was tragic beyond belief.

But God, in His infinite wisdom and love, somehow takes all the events of our lives, both good and bad, and blends them together ultimately for good. The good He intends, that is.

After that tragedy, Christian organizations mobilized to send much needed help and resources to the hurting people of Southeast Asia. People received much needed physical and spiritual help. Back then and even now, God will work things together for good.

Well it’s me, Keith Ronan, owner of Elijah Web Solutions here in Central Florida. There is certainly an awful lot of anxiety over how much money the government is spending on the economic stimulus package these days. At Elijah Web Solutions we believe that in order for people to begin spending money again small businesses will need to begin to grow and profit again. We have decided to assist businesses in that by offering a 45 day web site special! For 45 days we are offering 5 page websites that will include search engine optimization, unlimited email accounts, a custom design that will represent your business with excellence, and an admin section that will allow you to edit your own website. You’ll get all of this for only $299.99 plus $19.99 per month. Unlike so many other web business firms, we will stay with you after the uploading of your website and help you grow your online presence! It’s that simple….choose EWS and watch us help you bring excitement back into your business. Now that’s a stimulus package!