SAVE ISRAEL OUT OF MIDIAN'S HAND.
Gideon had a specific mission. And for this specific mission he had strength. I've learned that we only have strength to do what we're supposed to do right here and now. So we need to not only know the strength that we have right now, but also what we're supposed to be doing right now. What do you KNOW you're supposed to be doing right now? (Or after you read this blog!) Whatever that is, you have strength from God to do it. And this is the key to it all: Is God sending you just as he sent Gideon?
AM I NOT SENDING YOU?
Whatever you know you're supposed to be doing right now is exactly what God is "sending" you to do. Your personal "Midian" is your duty and responsibility for God's glory. Whether you're a husband loving your wife, or a wife respecting your husband. Or if you're a child honoring your parents, or a parent lovingly disciplining your child. You may be at work. You may be in school. Whoever you are, and wherever you are, there is something you KNOW you're supposed to be doing right now.
And if you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, then finding that out is your mission. So the strength that you have, right now, is to find out what you're supposed to be doing right now. Your context will make that easier than you think. If you're at home, what needs to be done more than anything else, right now? Or at work? Or at school?
Whatever that is, wherever you are, whoever you are, all God expects is for you to do whatever you're supposed to be doing--in the strength that you have right now. We don't have to focus on our weaknesses, because God doesn't require us to do anything we don't have the strength to do right now.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
How to be strong (Part 1)
"Go in the strength that you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"~God to Gideon
I hate feeling weak. More than that, I hate my when my weakness is witnessed. Maybe you do too. Or maybe you hide your weaknesses better than I do. But what if you didn't have to hide or fear weaknesses? What if you only spoke and acted with strength?
You can!
God, who made you, gave you at least one strength. And I have good news for you: He only expects you to do what you can do! He only expects you to act not only in the strength that you have, but that you know that you have. I'll show you what God showed me through His words to Gideon, the judge who delivered Israel from the Midianites. I'll show you by breaking down God's words to Gideon.
GO IN THE STRENGTH THAT YOU HAVE.
First, go. Take a specific course of action. And when you take that specific course of action, do it only in the strength, or ability, or talent, or skill that you have RIGHT NOW. In the strength that you HAVE. If you don't know what that is, then don't GO. Don't speak. Don't act. This is where I've gone wrong in the past. I spoke or acted from a place of weakness or inability. For example, there is a scripture that says that Jesus spoke "what he knew and testified what he had seen." The same thing is said about the apostles: "that which they had seen and heard, they declared." But how many times have we talked about things we don't know, haven't seen, or haven't heard? When that happens, we speak from a place of weakness. Yet whenever we talk about what we personally know, what we've personally seen, and what we've personally heard, we speak with strength--the strength that we have. And we're usually speaking about a specific thing for a specific reason or purpose, which leads to the next point we learn Gideon.
Click HERE for part 2.
I hate feeling weak. More than that, I hate my when my weakness is witnessed. Maybe you do too. Or maybe you hide your weaknesses better than I do. But what if you didn't have to hide or fear weaknesses? What if you only spoke and acted with strength?
You can!
God, who made you, gave you at least one strength. And I have good news for you: He only expects you to do what you can do! He only expects you to act not only in the strength that you have, but that you know that you have. I'll show you what God showed me through His words to Gideon, the judge who delivered Israel from the Midianites. I'll show you by breaking down God's words to Gideon.
GO IN THE STRENGTH THAT YOU HAVE.
First, go. Take a specific course of action. And when you take that specific course of action, do it only in the strength, or ability, or talent, or skill that you have RIGHT NOW. In the strength that you HAVE. If you don't know what that is, then don't GO. Don't speak. Don't act. This is where I've gone wrong in the past. I spoke or acted from a place of weakness or inability. For example, there is a scripture that says that Jesus spoke "what he knew and testified what he had seen." The same thing is said about the apostles: "that which they had seen and heard, they declared." But how many times have we talked about things we don't know, haven't seen, or haven't heard? When that happens, we speak from a place of weakness. Yet whenever we talk about what we personally know, what we've personally seen, and what we've personally heard, we speak with strength--the strength that we have. And we're usually speaking about a specific thing for a specific reason or purpose, which leads to the next point we learn Gideon.
Click HERE for part 2.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Spiritual letters
To Matthew, my spiritual son,
From the time you were 5, you believed in the Lord. Your faith was real. I've seen it grow as you are becoming a man. You've always wanted to know how to follow the Lord perfectly, which is rare. I only know one other believer, my spiritual brother, who wants what you and I want: to be perfectly pleasing in the sight of God for the day of judgment, and to know that this is so in the present. Because we want the same thing, though I'm your spiritual father, I'm encouraged and strengthened by you. I want to encourage and strengthen you with what God showed me today in the scriptures.
I've been reading about the kings of Israel. It's sometimes discouraging because they seem inconsistent at best in their relationships with God. Most of them were evil and did evil. With each king, more evil is done. From father to son, more evil is done against the Lord. But every now and then in the scriptural accounts of Hebrew Kings, a good king comes to the throne. But he either leaves God at some point, or his son undoes every good thing he did. I've only found one king so far in my readings who was faithful to God from beginning to end. This king reminds me of you because he started following God as a boy. You were 5 when you began with Christ. He was eight. His name was Josiah. This is what the Spirit said about him:
"Josiah was 8 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 31 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed in the ways of his father David, not turning to the right or to the left."
Like you, Josiah was single-mindedly focused on the Lord from the time he was a boy, following the example of his father David, as you are following in my example. Keep doing what you're doing Matthew. Don't turn to the right or the left. Stay focused on God, like Josiah did.
"In the 8th year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David."
The 8th year of Josiah's reign would've made him 16 years old. You're about to be 16 Matthew. You've already begin to seek my God. To seek Him means to pursue an intimate relationship with Him. You're studying the scriptures and meditating on God's words. You do this to learn not only what God thinks, but how He thinks. You are seeking to understand and know God. Keep doing this Matthew, and you will be like Josiah.
"Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did--with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in accordance with all the law of Moses."
At first I thought Josiah had an advantage over us--that he had the law of Moses, which gave the Israelites exactly what they were supposed to do in every area of their lives. You seem like you want these kinds of divine instructions Matthew. I understand if you do; I used to want the same thing. But I now see that the Spirit is our law; His will and mind are written on our intuition and conscience. So all you have to do to be like Josiah is turn to the Spirit as Josiah did--with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, in accordance with the leading of the Spirit. In other words, completely focus on following the Spirit. Obey the Spirit with all of your heart, soul, and strength, not doing anything He doesn't lead you to do.
I hope my words strengthen and encourage you. Let me know what you think as you pray about my words.
I love you my son in the Spirit,
Your spiritual father.
From the time you were 5, you believed in the Lord. Your faith was real. I've seen it grow as you are becoming a man. You've always wanted to know how to follow the Lord perfectly, which is rare. I only know one other believer, my spiritual brother, who wants what you and I want: to be perfectly pleasing in the sight of God for the day of judgment, and to know that this is so in the present. Because we want the same thing, though I'm your spiritual father, I'm encouraged and strengthened by you. I want to encourage and strengthen you with what God showed me today in the scriptures.
I've been reading about the kings of Israel. It's sometimes discouraging because they seem inconsistent at best in their relationships with God. Most of them were evil and did evil. With each king, more evil is done. From father to son, more evil is done against the Lord. But every now and then in the scriptural accounts of Hebrew Kings, a good king comes to the throne. But he either leaves God at some point, or his son undoes every good thing he did. I've only found one king so far in my readings who was faithful to God from beginning to end. This king reminds me of you because he started following God as a boy. You were 5 when you began with Christ. He was eight. His name was Josiah. This is what the Spirit said about him:
"Josiah was 8 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 31 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed in the ways of his father David, not turning to the right or to the left."
Like you, Josiah was single-mindedly focused on the Lord from the time he was a boy, following the example of his father David, as you are following in my example. Keep doing what you're doing Matthew. Don't turn to the right or the left. Stay focused on God, like Josiah did.
"In the 8th year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David."
The 8th year of Josiah's reign would've made him 16 years old. You're about to be 16 Matthew. You've already begin to seek my God. To seek Him means to pursue an intimate relationship with Him. You're studying the scriptures and meditating on God's words. You do this to learn not only what God thinks, but how He thinks. You are seeking to understand and know God. Keep doing this Matthew, and you will be like Josiah.
"Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did--with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in accordance with all the law of Moses."
At first I thought Josiah had an advantage over us--that he had the law of Moses, which gave the Israelites exactly what they were supposed to do in every area of their lives. You seem like you want these kinds of divine instructions Matthew. I understand if you do; I used to want the same thing. But I now see that the Spirit is our law; His will and mind are written on our intuition and conscience. So all you have to do to be like Josiah is turn to the Spirit as Josiah did--with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, in accordance with the leading of the Spirit. In other words, completely focus on following the Spirit. Obey the Spirit with all of your heart, soul, and strength, not doing anything He doesn't lead you to do.
I hope my words strengthen and encourage you. Let me know what you think as you pray about my words.
I love you my son in the Spirit,
Your spiritual father.
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