Bold in Prayer
I found this prayer today from Hebrews 13:20-21. It says:
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
How many of us actually pray for each other like this? Not enough! Let’s start changing that today, and be bold in our prayers!
Not To Us Be the Glory
In Judges 7, the Word recounts the story of the three hundred men who went with Gideon to defeat the Midianites. In the beginning there were far more than that, but God didn’t want that many.
Verse 2 says: ‘And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.”
The things we do, we are to do for God’s glory, not our own. Too often do we perform “kind” deeds with the desire to receive praise from those around us. The point of doing those deeds should not be our own renown; it should be to show God’s goodness, God’s kindness, God’s love.
He is worthy of all glory and praise, so don’t try to take from Him what is His due.
God’s Patience
Today I read in Judges 6 about how Gideon asked God for the two signs about the fleece. Remember that? The first time he asked God to do a sign where the fleece he put on the threshing floor would get dew on it while the ground was dry, and the second time he asked God to do a sign where the fleece would be dry while all the ground had dew on it.
If I was God, I think I would be very annoyed with Gideon at this point. Not only did the Angel of the Lord already speak to Gideon and tell him that he would defeat the Midianites, but the Angel also already performed a sign for him! Not only has Gideon come across as a doubter, but also cowardly because he chose to destroy the altar to Baal during the secrecy of night. If I was God, I might just choose someone else and be done with this man. But that’s not what God did.
In this moment, God chooses to show how patient He is. He does both the signs with the fleece as Gideon wanted and still uses Gideon to achieve His goals. God didn’t have to put up with Gideon’s weakness, but He still did. If the almighty ruler of the universe can show patience in a situation such as this, why can’t we do also in our own lives?
God is already perfect. He has no need to grow more mature because He is already at the highest point there is! But He showed us an example of how we should behave. We should be patient, not only so that we can grow more mature as believers, but also because God has shown patience to us.
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As I grow closer to the Lord, I find it more difficult to relate to other people. My priorities and interests shift so that it is harder and harder to find others who share them. I don’t want to gossip about my professor or discuss the newest inappropriate television show. And this isn’t because of goodness on my part; it’s because of how good God is. I want to be better because of Him, and He helps me let go of things of the world. But if I become less and less like the world, how am I to know how to speak to the people in the world? I know the Holy Spirit can give me words to say, but a lot of times, it is through relationships that unbelievers come to know Christ. I don’t have the gift of evangelism. Just directly saying, “You need Jesus desperately!” is not something that is natural for me. I am still called to make disciples though, and one way to do that is through building relationships with others and gradually showing them that Jesus is the only path to real life. But how can I build those relationships as I am? Anyone reading this also have that problem?
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Stamp Out Fear
Judges 6:11 begins the account of a man named Gideon. The Lord chose him to be a judge, but this man was far from perfect.
When God comes to Gideon as the Angel of the Lord, at first Gideon does not believe this stranger is truly God. The Lord tells Gideon to put meat and bread on a rock and pour out some broth. Gideon does this, and God performs a sign to prove He truly is God. He touches the meat and bread with a staff, and a fire rises out of the rock that consumes the meat and bread.
This sign makes Gideon realize that he has been in the presence of the Angel of the Lord, and he cries out to God. The Lord tells him not to be afraid and gives Gideon some instructions.
Despite knowing that his mission has come directly from God, so there is no way he can fail, Gideon is still fearful.
It says in verse 27, ‘So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.’
Even though we don’t usually receive such a clear message from God or receive orders that involve destroying someone’s property, we often experience this same fear Gideon did. We fear criticism, judgment, and persecution too much to be bold in our faith sometimes.
But God has not given us a spirit of fear. We are called conquerors, so we should be confident. Our reward is an eternal one, so it shouldn’t scare us that we might suffer persecution or loss of friends for the sake of standing up for Christ. If He calls you to do something, do it without fearing the consequences. No punishment here on earth can compare to the glory of the Lord. He is worth all of it.
Faith and a Willing Heart
Our lack of faith can prevent us from the rewards God wants to bestow upon us. If we look at Barak in Judges 4, we see that God told him to lead troops into battle against the army of Canaan. The Lord told Barak that he would deliver the commander of Canaan’s army into his hand, along with his chariots and soldiers. Canaan’s commander was named Sisera. But Barak lacked the courage to do this. Instead, it says in verses 8 and 9 when Barak is speaking to Deborah,
And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”
So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Now, we don’t know all the details of what was going on in Barak’s mind, but he clearly doubted God, or else he wouldn’t have required Deborah to go with him. He missed out on getting the praise for Sisera’s defeat because of this one instance of doubt. I wonder what we’ve missed out on because we doubted God when we should have stood firm.
Despite Barak’s doubt, God still used him. Barak messed up, but God didn’t give up on him. When we doubt the Lord, He can still use us too. Sometimes we think we’re not strong enough believers for God to really use us, but that’s not true at all! Barak was still willing to go to battle, even though he wanted Deborah to come as well. God can use the youngest, most immature believer for His plans. If you want God to use you, the best thing you can have is simply willingness. Growth can happen over time, but if you aren’t willing to grow and serve the Lord, then what’s the point of being a Christian?
Just a Man
Judges 3:7-11 relates an account of how the Lord raised up a deliverer for Israel after the nation did evil and was punished by being enslaved by the king of Mesopotamia. This deliverer was named Othniel. It does not tell us anything about the character of this man, which I think is interesting. It doesn’t have to divulge any information about how he was before or after God used him because it doesn’t matter. What I mean by that is that God can use anyone, even the most unlikely person, to achieve His plans. Othniel could have been a great warrior, a huge coward, a thief, or a womanizer, but that didn’t stop God from using him. Like Othniel, God can use us, no matter what our background looks like, if He chooses to.
Just a Man
Judges 3:7-11 relates an account of how the Lord raised up a deliverer for Israel after the nation did evil and was punished by being enslaved by the king of Mesopotamia. This deliverer was named Othniel. It does not tell us anything about the character of this man, which I think is interesting. It doesn’t have to divulge any information about how he was before or after God used him because it doesn’t matter. What I mean by that is that God can use anyone, even the most unlikely person, to achieve His plans. Othniel could have been a great warrior, a huge coward, a thief, or a womanizer, but that didn’t stop God from using him. Like Othniel, God can use us, no matter what our background looks like, if He chooses to.
Anonymous asked: HI!
Greetings, reader of my blog! :)
Nothing Too Small
So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.-Judges 2:4
Okay, this probably seems like an odd verse to just pull out of the air, but bear with me.
How incredible is it to imagine that the Angel of the Lord spoke directly to this entire nation?! Whether you believe this to be the Messiah before Jesus became flesh or just a heavenly messenger of God, this is still amazing! Nowadays, it is rare that you hear of people seeing angels anymore. It’s not because they are any less real or present than they were back then. But believers today have a resource that people in the Old Testament lacked: we have the Holy Spirit within us. Our bodies are living temples for God. We also have the Word right here in front of us which contains God’s truth.
Many of us wait around for an enormous revelation from God in a dramatic display like we read about, but so often the Lord chooses to use simple events instead. I’m not saying that God will never choose to give anyone a vision of the spiritual realm in this day and age (I know people who have had experiences of this nature), but our God is so big that He can use small things too. We need to be looking for Him in even the tiny things, like in unexpected conversations or seemingly random acts of kindness. He works in mysterious ways, and who knows? He could use the type of meat you put in a sandwich on a given day to tell you something. He could use the song you hear on the radio. He could use a moment when you trip onto the ground. Nothing is too insignificant for our great God to utilize to achieve His plans.
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Sometimes Punishment Is a Necessity
Sometimes God allows evil to come against us as a punishment for disobeying Him. This can be seen in Judges 2. Because Israel did not listen to the Lord’s command to tear down the altars of the people currently occupying the land and not make covenants with any of them, God decides not to drive those people out. Instead, He allows those people to be “thorns in [Israel’s] side,” and those people’s gods “shall be a snare to [the people of Israel].”
God does not do this because He loves Israel any less; He does it because sometimes the only way to adequately learn something is by being punished. It is just the same with us. Sometimes we, as believers, need to face punishment in order to learn not to sin against God in a certain area. Sometimes the pain of losing a friend is what is needed in order to teach us not to gossip. Sometimes a failing grade in a class is what is needed in order to teach us to be responsible. These things are not easy to endure, but the rewards on the other side make the experience worth it.
