Good morning everyone,

Judges 5:8-When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?

I think we all can think back when we either had a chance to do something exciting that we loved to do or received a gift that we loved to spend time and energy on, and we ended up bringing "a disturbance" to a relationship. Usually we wouldn’t admit in anyway that we enjoy the activitiy, person, place, or feeling more than the person we have a relationship with, but inevitably it has brought "war" in a sense.

When we think about jealousy in any sense of the term it is usually sinful. Being jealous because people have more wealth than us, opportunities, relationships, etc. Jealousy when it is sinful comes from a discontentment in our own lives, even if we think about where we started from and realize how good God has been to us. This kind of jealousy ruins relationships because it is never satisfied, even with God, so it could never be satisfied with us! So before it ruins any "earthly" relationship it first ruins our relationship with the Lord.

God’s jealousy for us as His bride and children comes because He knows no one competes with Him in how great His love is for us. Our love for someone we want to marry or are married to should have a godly jealousy about it, where we are protective because we don’t want to share that love with others because it’s special. That’s why it is hard to take when we feel like the person we love chooses "another love" over us no matter how small it is. It hurts the soul to not be chosen when a covenant expressed with such love binds you together. However with our Lord, when we bring anything in our lives because of discontentment with Him and His ways, there cannot be an "upgrade" to Him. As Christians we must examine our hearts and ask the tough questions as to what maybe causing "war in the gates" of my relationship with God, and eventually with the people around me? Have I brought in a "new god" that is causing strife in my home, work, church, etc? Remember It is our soul that is at war with only true God, when we choose new gods to serve that cannot bring true peace.

In His Love, Ld