The next section from the book - "The ME I want to be" - is redeeming my time. That's why the memory verse this week is so key. I urge you to memorize it. "So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise, but live wisely. Use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times."
This week, I want t o look at a few Biblical characters and how God used them. They made the most of their time. I am praying these devotions this week will encourage you and motivate you to do the same.
Today and tomorrow, we're going to look briefly at a man named Gideon. Who was he? (The guy that wrote the Bible in the motel?) Actually he did a little more than that! He was a classic example of an ordinary person that God uses. He was a farm boy who became a national hero. Against incredible odds, he saved his nation.
Some background: Israel was at one of their lowest points in history. They were spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally, economically bankrupt. An enemy nation called the Midianites had come in like a swarm of locusts 135,000 strong and forced all the people who lived in Israel to move into caves. They were living in caves and eking out survival. We find Gideon initially down in the bottom of a wine press threshing grain instead of out in the open where the wind could get the chafe out. He was hiding. If he was seen they'd kill him and take his wheat.
When things get bad, God looks for a person to use. God often uses the most unlikely person. Some of you are thinking, "God could never use me." Don't bet on it! God often uses the most unlikely people. God specializes in turning nobodies into somebodies.
In Judges 6:11 we find Gideon hiding out. "The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash [who was his dad] his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites.]
Gideon had climbed down into the wine press and he is threshing grain to eke out a little bit of wheat to make some bread for his family that's living in a cave in these dark desperate times when everybody's lost hope. They're helpless. They're driven to despair. And an angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and says this (v. 12) "The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and he said, `The Lord is with you mighty warrior.'"
That brings us to Judges 6:15 – it says "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
In that one verse we see the key to God using a life – Humility. A definition for true humility: admitting that I don't have it all together, that I haven't arrived, that I haven't learned it all, that I'm a long way from perfection, and you know what else humility is? It’s admitting that I'm not God!
I ran across an article talking about St. Francis of Assisi. He had an unusual method of maintaining humility. In his memoirs, he said any time someone praised him, in order to stay humble; he would have a fellow monk sit down and tell him all his faults. (Of course, the reason he had to ask a fellow monk was because he never married!)
Twelve different times in Scriptures we are told to “humble ourselves.” Get this: humility is a choice – to think of others instead of yourself to bow your will to God’s. Gideon understood humility and as a result God was ready to use him! When we humble ourselves, God will be ready to use us as well.
Anytime God uses a life, he takes us through a four step process.
#1. STEP ONE: GOD”S AFFIRMATION: He will ENCOURAGE me! (6:11-16)
God always starts in your life with a word of encouragement. He will encourage you. He sees your potential and He wants you to see it. When God starts to work in your life, first He wants you to get a new view of you. He wants you to get a glimpse of your potential.
I love Proverbs 29:18 in the KJV. It says, "Without a vision people perish" - What is that verse saying? People need a vision for what their lives can be as they follow God. God affirmed Gideon – God gave him a vision for his life. He said, "You're a mighty warrior!" Anyone could see that Gideon was no courageous leader. But God saw behind the surface. God does that with us as well.
WHAT”S THE LESSON? Many people miss God's plan for their life because they just can't see God using them. They just can't see themselves as a dynamic Christian. They can't see themselves as a leader. They can't seen themselves as being an influential person spiritually. Why? They have not been encouraged property – they have not been given a vision for their life. If you don’t get anything else from today’s message, get this. Walk out of here committed to being an encourager of people – someone who plants a vision within another – a builder of people souls and lives and futures!
Hebrews 3:13 (GW) says “Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn.” Put this verse into practice!
#2. STEP TWO: GOD'S REVELATION: He will meet me! (6:17-24)
Gideon had a personal experience with God. The fact of the matter is, when God wants to change me, first He encourages me and second, He meets me. He gets to know me. Life becomes more than a religion but a relationship.
This is what happened with Gideon. v. 17, "If I've now found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it's really you talking to me. Please don't go away until I come back and bring an offering and set it before you.' And the Lord said, `I'll wait for you to return.'" God waits for us. God was ready to use Gideon right there. But Gideon said, "I'm not ready yet." Gideon went back home and prepared a meal at great expense and he brought it back to God and offered this mean to this angel of the Lord and it was supernaturally consumed. He realized then that he was talking to God.
v. 22 "When Gideon realizes that it was the angel of the Lord he exclaimed, `Ah, sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.' …So Gideon built an altar. And he called it `The Lord is peace' and it stands there to this day." Gideon had a personal experience with God and it says he made an altar. He piled up some stones.
What does an altar represent? In the Old Testament, an altar always represents a personal commitment to God. It was a reminder. Gideon was saying, "I don't ever want to forget this so I'm going to put some stones up here and make an altar so that every time I pass by here I'll remember that I encountered God personally, face to face here. I had an experience with God." This represents where God meets man.
What's the lesson? Before you are ready to fight external battles you must have internal peace. Before you are ready to face the tough times you're facing at work or at home or out there in the world, you've got to have an internal peace inside, capable to handle the battles. Where do you get that? You come to the point that Gideon did. A face to face encounter with God. Have you met God? Have you come into a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ?
Today, ponder these points. God wants to use you. There are needs all around you. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!
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