Blogger Note: Once again, after a very pertinent and personal time with God today, I will post this entry early due to our cruise schedule here in Alaska.
Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Steven Curtis Chapman singing his song/lyrics His Strength Is Perfect, with the promise of God’s strength being ours when ours is gone.
Highlight Passage Judges 6: 11-12 [NKJV] …
11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
… God so often sees so much more in us than we see in ourselves.
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Highlight Context - Judges 6: 11-16 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God calls an ordinary man to an extraordinary task.
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Reference Passage #1 - Matthew 28: 20 [NKJV] …
20 “ … And lo, I am with you always … even to the end of the age.”
… Yes, again (see yesterday's blog) ... always there … always walking with us
Reference Passage #2 - John 14: 16-18 [NKJV] …
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
… Jesus’ prayer for His disciples. - Hey! … that’s us too !! …
Reference Passage #3 - 2nd Corinthians 4: 7 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK…
... In our bodies, as “earthen vessels” we have the very power of Christ …
Reference Passage #4 - 2nd Corinthians 12: 9 [NKJV] …
12 Then He (Jesus) said to me, … “My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in [your] weakness.
… He’s willing to give us the strength of His grace when we need it.
Reference Passage #5 - Philippians 4: 13 [NKJV] …
13 I can do all things through Christ, who gives me the strength.
… He’s willing to give us the strength of His grace when we need it.
Reference Passage #6 - 1st John 4: 4 [NKJV] …
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because ... He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
… A truth we must never forget when we’re dealing with the world.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Poh Fang Chia, took me back to one of my favorite characters in the Old Testament, … that of Gideon, … a young, frightened farmer, trying to hide from the adversaries of the Jews in his time, the Midianites, who were feared warriors. And in the highlight passage above (and see the attached photo) God, thru an Angel (likely a Christophany of Christ), called Gideon out, … calling Gideon, “God’s mighty man,” to which Gideon bolted, declaring himself to be the weakest vessel of the weakest tribe in Israel.
Perhaps there are times when you, as do I, feel weak and unable to deal with our spiritual enemies, … Satan, … his worldly system, and our own flesh. We wonder how we’re going to deal with life; and how we can have the strength to face such power as Satan has, … even as he has set up in the world. I’m sure we, at times, feel like Gideon must’ve felt, hiding in that wine barrel, trying to hide from the Midianites.
But really, when you go through what God has given me as a reminder today, i.e., … the story of Gideon, … the powerful song by Steven Curtis Chapman, which he wrote at a time of his absolute lowest, when his little daughter was tragically lost, … and then the Scriptures (see above), which give us God’s truth about our weakness and His strength, … we have to come away with the conclusion that we, like Gideon, have a power - i.e., God’s Spirit - in us which is even greater than Satan, … greater than the world, … and yes, FAR GREATER than our own flesh … to become warriors for God in the spiritual battles we face in life.
So, may I challenge any reading here, with me, today to see ourselves as Gideons, ready to go to battle today, standing for and with the One in us who will make us mighty warriors in His Name.
My Prayer Today: Oh Lord, … We, … who have Your Spirit planted in our hearts, move forward as conquerers in Your Name. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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