Bible League: Living His Word When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.""Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian." The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" "Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive." Gideon had a low opinion of himself and his clan. His assumption was that if someone was to save Israel out of Midian's hand, then it must be someone of greater status than him and from a stronger clan than his. It never occurred to him that God may have selected him for the task precisely because of his low status and weak clan. God, however, seems to specialize in selecting what is low and of no account for the accomplishment of His purposes. He selected the Israelites as His chosen people not because they were numerous, but because they were few (Deuteronomy 7:7). He chose David to be King of Israel even though he was the youngest son in his family (I Samuel 16:1-13). The Apostles Peter and John were "unschooled, ordinary men" (Acts 4:13). Many more examples could be added to the list. The reason why God so often chooses what is low and of no account is so that the chosen will be more reliant on Him and through that reliance His glory will be magnified. God often chooses the foolish, weak, lowly, the despised, and the things that are not so that no one may boast before Him (I Corinthians 1:26-29). If God were to exclusively choose those who are high and mighty, then they might be tempted to boast of their own abilities and take credit for any successes. If you are confronted today with a calling that seems beyond your status and abilities, then consider Gideon. It is God who makes us able, not we ourselves. Indeed, God declared Gideon to be a "mighty warrior" before he ever accomplished anything. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingGenesis 44, 45 Genesis 44 -- Benjamin and the Silver Cup NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Genesis 45 -- Joseph Makes Himself Known and Forgives His Brothers NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Matthew 14:1-21 Matthew 14 -- John the Baptist Beheaded; Jesus Feeds Five Thousand, Walks on Water NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion “What do you mean, ‘What's the matter?'“ Micah replied. “You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!”Insight Micah made idols and hired a priest to run his personal religion. When the men of Dan took his idols and priest, nothing remained. What an empty spiritual condition! An idol is anything that takes God's place in a person's life. Challenge Some people invest all their energy in pursuing money, success, possessions, or a career. If these idols are taken away, only an empty shell is left. The only way to protect yourself against such loss is to invest your life in the living God, whom you can never lose. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.He whom we viewed last evening as opening Scripture, we here perceive opening the understanding. In the first work he has many fellow-laborers, but in the second he stands alone; many can bring the Scriptures to the mind, but the Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus differs from all other teachers; they reach the ear, but he instructs the heart; they deal with the outward letter, but he imparts an inward taste for the truth, by which we perceive its savour and spirit. The most unlearned of men become ripe scholars in the school of grace when the Lord Jesus by his Holy Spirit unfolds the mysteries of the kingdom to them, and grants the divine anointing by which they are enabled to behold the invisible. Happy are we if we have had our understandings cleared and strengthened by the Master! How many men of profound learning are ignorant of eternal things! They know the killing letter of revelation, but its killing spirit they cannot discern; they have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot penetrate. Such was our case a little time ago; we who now see were once utterly blind; truth was to us as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed and neglected. Had it not been for the love of Jesus we should have remained to this moment in utter ignorance, for without his gracious opening of our understanding, we could no more have attained to spiritual knowledge than an infant can climb the Pyramids, or an ostrich fly up to the stars. Jesus' College is the only one in which God's truth can be really learned; other schools may teach us what is to be believed, but Christ's alone can show us how to believe it. Let us sit at the feet of Jesus, and by earnest prayer call in his blessed aid that our dull wits may grow brighter, and our feeble understandings may receive heavenly things. Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.Genesis 9:20,21 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. • He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Genesis 12:11,13 It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; • "Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you." Genesis 27:21,24 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not." • And he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am." Psalm 106:32,33 They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account; • Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips. Joshua 9:14,15 So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD. • Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. 1 Kings 15:5 because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. Hebrews 11:39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, Romans 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; Isaiah 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? Ezekiel 36:32 "I am not doing this for your sake," declares the Lord GOD, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!" New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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