bibledoorajar Deborah con't

The two ladies(in biblical garb) with Gayle Browning are sisters. They are Mary Frances Cliett Hudson and Emily Cliett Underwood. Their significance to our story of Deborah is that they too are from a line of fruitfulness. Their paternal grandmother "arose a mother in her community."
About 105 years ago, she allowed a group to meet in her front yard to study the Bible. She invited people to come, including many who worked for her husband (among these just happened to by my grandparents). Soon, she was inviting well known gospel preachers to come and share the Word. Many were saved including members of my family. Today, the group which descended from these first meetings is still a viable beacon of faith in the community which Mrs. Cliett loved. She 'made all of this happen' while functioning as a wife and mother. Flash forward to the present. Mary Frances and Emily (granddaughters) found themselves worshipping with a group that needed a place to meet. Mary Frances and her husband, a strong twosome, opened their completed basement to the group. Approximately 65 souls meet in worship there. Now the two sisters have donated a tract of land to the group. It is their desire that a permanent Bible presence be seen and felt in their community. These godly actions of this family give us some feeling of how fruitfulness continues in family lines in the church period just as it did in Israel. God will always have those family lines that have been, are and will be fruitful branches on the Vine. And, the good thing to remember is that He is always  looking for someone courageous enough to start just such a line. Could it be you?
     Continuing our focus on Deborah and Barak, the Israeli general, let's look at how they worked together to defend the tribes from a fierce enemy. The tribes of Israel were a loose confederation at the time with no centralized leader. In times of serious difficulty God would raise up leaders to save the people from any external threat. If you read the biblical texts describing these times, you always see that the need would arise because the people had not lived up to their covenant with God (see Judges 2:8-14). Indeed, God had placed a high standard of responsibility on His people. When they failed miserably, God usually got their attention by allowing a physical enemy to attack (see Judges 4:2). This would usually shock the people back to their senses and they would cry out to God for rescue (Judges 4:3).
     When Deborah sent for Barak and told him of her plan to attack the people's enemy the Canaanites, Barak paused. He considered the reality of Israel's loose confederation and lack of weapons. In weighing the pros and cons, the cons seemed very distressing. But Deborah remained firm. So firm in fact that one can almost feel the energy passing between the two leaders. Barak knew that Deborah was a prophetess who received light on problem situations from God. That was a plus. He also knew that she was from a tribe that was very fruitful. Certainly Deborah was well respected for all the help she provided from her fruitful palm tree. Barak decided that if she would go to battle with him then God would be pleased and make him fruitful (successful) also. This was how Barak, God's general, became emboldened enough to go to war. He recognized the calling of God on another and the power that was involved in such a calling. He told Deborah that if she would go against the enemy then he would too. This reminds me of how many times many of us have become emboldened to take on a work because we sense God's anointing on another. How easy it is to see faith and courage in another; how hard it is to see it in ourselves! Deborah took Barak's comment in stride; she simply told the warrior of God that because he wished to play it that way the honor for the victory would go to a woman. Barak seemed to have no trouble accepting this and apparently was more interested in success than personal fame. We know that his personal faith was not compromised. The writer of Hebrews (11:32) speaks of his wisdom and faith combined with courage that took him to battle. This record placed both these leaders in the category of those who overcome and who persevere. Paul, writing in Romans 8:37, says that we can be the same kind of conquering heroes of faith through Him that loved us and gave us a much greater covenant than the old. I will close today with some verses I stand on.
    "To those who by PATIENT CONTINUANCE in well doing (fruitfulness--rap) seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but to them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God." Rom. 2:7-11 I'm all for choosing fruitfulness in Christ Jesus. How about you?