Judges 3

 (Judges 3:1-2)1 Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan 2 (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it,

The record here seems to be that God "actively" left these tribes to hone their war skills. In reality, it was the tragic result of the Israelis’ unwillingness to completely drive out the seven Canaanite tribes. Judge is a book that records the vicious circle between strength and weakness in the people of God that has been inevitable for the ages: The most common content in testimony is often the testimony of "being disciplined by God," but after each discipline, can we escape this history completely? The lesson of history is that mankind often does not remember the lesson. The loving Lord Jesus knew our weakness and sent the Comforter Holy Spirit to help us out of this vicious circle.

(Matthew 14:25-26) 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.

It is said that for those who have received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will teach us everything, that is, before the wrong thing is about to be done, the Holy Spirit will remind us. So, the apostle Paul appeared to say this:

(Romans 7: 24-25) 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

He is telling us here: It is impossible to be sanctified on your own! But after he had received the Holy Spirit, he discovered that people can only rely on the Holy Spirit to overcome.

Today, many brothers and sisters in the Lord have already received the Holy Spirit in the True Jesus Church, but they are still weak. What is the reason? Let the author tell a story:

The human heart is like a villa with twelve rooms. We are the masters inside.

A man was sitting in the living room on the first floor and admiring it leisurely after he had arranged his house as he pleased. At this time, there was a knock on the door outside. He asked, "Who is it!", the knocker did not respond. He asked again but still did not respond. So curiously, he secretly opened a crack in the door to see what happened. Unexpectedly, it was a black devil. With great strength, he pushed the door and rushed in, messing up the twelve-room villa and destroying everything that should be broken. When the devil is satisfied, he will go away!

The master had no choice but to tidy up. When the cleaning was almost done, knocked on the door again. The master didn't doubt that the devil came again, so he looked again to see who was knocking on the door. He didn't expect that it was the devil again because it had a sense of taste and brought companions this time. As you can imagine, the result was even more miserable than last time!

The owner was exhausted, and finally managed to a little decent. Unexpectedly, there was another knock on the door. Unlike the past, this voice is gentle and slow, not as rushing and rough as before. He asked, "Who? I won't open the door if you don't speak!" "I am Jesus! Would you like to open the door for me?" It turned out to be Jesus, who asked politely.

The master almost cried when he heard that Jesus was coming! Open the door quickly. Jesus entered his heart politely! Jesus asked, "Then, can I live here?" "Of course!" The master couldn't wait to respond. Jesus asked, "Where can I live?" "Ah! Lord Jesus, come! I will give you the biggest and best room here!" Jesus smiled, nodded, and followed upstairs to the biggest and best room in this villa.

The host felt relieved and said, "Jesus lives with me, I am not afraid of anything!"

"Knocking!" There was another hurried knock on the door, thinking, Jesus is here, what can you do about me? He  opened up the door. Unexpectedly, these demons seemed to enter the uninhabited state and destroy them arbitrarily! At this time, the master panicked and cried, "Lord! Save me!" Before he finished shouting, Jesus had already appeared before his eyes! When the demons saw Jesus here, they ran away in fright.

The master was injured and asked with tears, "Lord Jesus! Why can the devil come to tease me when you are with me?" Jesus said, "As long as you call me, I will help you! But I am not in your heart. I cannot help you make your own opinion without asking politely.

The owner asked, "Then what should I do?" Jesus said, "If you want, you can let me be the owner of this house." "What should I do?" The host continued. Jesus said, "Open up all the twelve rooms of your heart. Would you like it?"

This is embarrassing for this master because there is a room that he chooses to lock forever. After all, it is filthy, fornication, resentment towards someone, dissatisfaction with the church... After a lot of thought and struggle, he said, "Okay! Lord Jesus, I am willing to give you all, and even open that dirty room! But please strengthen me and help me clean it.

Jesus got "keys” to all the rooms," so he sat down on the first floor.

At this time, the knocking on the door became fiercer, and it seemed that more than one devil was about to make trouble. The owner was terrified when he heard such a rapid and rough knock on the door, and thought: "What should I do?" Unexpectedly, Jesus slowly stood up, patted the owner on the shoulder, and motioned for him to continue sitting. God said," I am the master and I am in charge!" Since then, the devil dared not come again!

At this point in the story, we discovered that Jesus is in our heart, and Jesus is our king, but they are two different things. No wonder Jesus reminded and revealed the "Equation of Life Happiness":

 (Matthew 6:31-34) 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its things. Sufficient for the day is its trouble.

Among them, you must first seek his kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be added to you. It is the equation of happiness in life. As long as the Holy Spirit fills us, the Lord Jesus is our king, and our hearts become the "kingdom of God" in which God reigns, the vicious tour in the book of Judges is over!

Translated by 余姿瑩