Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Judges, Chapters 6-7 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Reference Passage : Judges 6: 13-17 … 13 “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.” … 14 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?” … 15 “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.” … 16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” … 17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” … And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”
My Journal for Today: Okay, in my chronological study through Judges, I arrived at one of my favorite characters, … Gideon in Chapters 6-7. And maybe I so closely identify with this God-selected Judge because he is so like me when God pursued me and called me out for His kingdom and His service. That comparison testimony is far too long a story to journal here this morning; but a couple of points of description are in order.
First, I identify with Gideon because, when God called him out, he recognized how weak he was. He was hiding from the world (i.e., the Midianite oppressors), recognizing his own spiritual weakness. Even when God’s angel came to Gideon (which BTW may have been a theophany of Jesus), as you can read above, Gideon acknowledged how weak he felt he was. That was me in the early 1980s.
Secondly, God saw much more in Gideon than this fearful recruit saw in himself. The Angel called him a “mighty warrior (or hero)” in Judges 6: 12; and Gideon basically said, “No way, Dude!” to that. And this was also like me back when I had an encounter with God’s Spirit in April of 1983 when I finally surrendered to the Lord much as Gideon finally did after a lot of questioning and struggle of faith.
And finally, Gideon just couldn’t see himself in the role of God’s “mighty warrior;” and that was certainly the way I balked when God called me into His kingdom service of ministry and eldership in our church … even after being a declared and seasoned as a disciple of Christ well into the 1990s.
So, I really identify with this fearful, broken-down believer in whom God saw something which called this man into service for God and God’s kingdom. … My friend, I hope you recognize that any who call upon Jesus as Lord and Savior are called into some purpose of kingdom service. If for no other calling, there is the “Great Commission” (I hope you know Matt. 28: 19-20); and there is the calling to witness in Acts 1:8. And then there is the calling to use the Spirit-given gift (or gifts) we Christians have been given to serve the Lord for His glory (see Rom. 12, 1st Cor. 12, and Eph. 4, where the charge to our gifting is documented). And finally, we believers are all called into the battles with our spiritual enemies in the spiritual warfare we all find ourselves daily (see Ephesians 6: 10-20).
So, we’re all called out as was Gideon; and when we recognize these callings, we probably all feel a bit like Gideon when we recognize and acknowledge how weak we are … in-and-unto ourselves. But the truth is what Gideon was to discover, as did many others in the pages of the Bible … that we are God’s heroes. And the truth is … God’s calling is His enablement. God’s word says it over and over again.
Again, as I have in the past, I site … Isaiah 41: 10 … Rom. 8: 28 … 1st Cor. 10: 13 … 2nd Cor. 12: 9 … Phil. 4: 13 … 2nd Tim. 1: 7 …and … 2nd Pet. 1: 3 … all of which tell us, just a the Angel convinced Gideon, that anyone called into service for God will be given all the enlightenment, enablement, and empowerment needed to carry out the purpose which God has called us to accomplish for His glory. Gideon became God’s victorious warrior (see Judges, Chapter 7 – linked above); and so can we be!
Dear one, I hope you know, believe, and are applying all those scriptural truths I’ve referred you to above; and let’s all take heart from the story of Gideon … that we can be God’s heroes when we believe God’s calling through His word and we act on His will for our lives.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, I do want to be Your hero and serve You for Your glory. Amen
Showing posts with label enablement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label enablement. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Saturday, September 10, 2011
September 10, 2011 … Empowered for Service
Passage of the Day: Ephesians 3: 20 … Now to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, …
My Journal for Today: Sometimes, when I read the Pauline epistles, I’m awed – maybe “overwhelmed” is a better word – by the Apostle’s strength in the face of all Paul endured [see 2nd Cor. 11: 23 – 29]. In essence, in this latter passage, we read of Paul who was boasting of what God had given him to endure all that he had gone through; and today’s verse, as well as 2nd Cor. 12: 7 – 11, documents how that could take place in the face of all the weaknesses imposed on him by his life. I became especially impressed by Paul’s fortitude this past month when my wife and I were blessed to travel to Athens, Ephesus, and other sites where Paul traveled in his three missionary journeys to the Asia- Minor and Europe. What the Apostle went through to carry the Gospel to the Gentile world, as documented in 2nd Cor. 11: 16-33, shows us that any person can endure much more than we think we can with the power given to us by the Holy Spirit to deal with our weaknesses (again see 1st Cor. 10: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9 and Phil. 4: 13).
Yes, having stood on Mars hill in Athens, where the Apostle preached to lost Greek intellectuals about their idolatry; and having been in Ephesus where this missionary of the Gospel was almost stoned to death, I’m awed by Paul’s strength in the face of human weaknesses. But then I realize the truth in Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, from which today’s verse is extracted. Paul, by contextual extension was praying for all believers (you and me included) to have the same power exhibited in our lives which was exhibited in his … that power activated when we surrender to God’s Spirit in the same way as Paul was Christ’s bond-slave.
So, when you or I surrender our lives in faith, as did Paul, the same infinitely powerful Holy Spirit, Who raised Christ from the dead and Who indwelt the Apostle Paul, is there for us … to empower and enable us to be overcomers as was Paul. Go to 2nd Cor. 4: 8 – 9, 16 and Rom. 8: 38 – 39; and from God’s truth you will see that the same Holy Spirit Who gave Paul his power is God’s Spirit, Who will allow no temporal circumstance to claim victory over us, in spite of our human weaknesses.
The Spirit of God, Who dwells in me, is the same Spirit whom Peter recognized would (and does) give any believing Christian all the spiritual resources necessary to face anything this life can dish out (see 2nd Peter 1: 3). And the only thing that limits the expression of God’s Spirit in and through me is ME. It is only my disbelief or my broken fellowship with Christ which limits me from becoming the Spirit-empowered Christian God wants me to be.
God, the Holy Spirit, is in me; and as Paul prays and declares in today’s verse, God can do, and will do, far more than I can ever ask or even imagine. So, it behooves me - and you if you’re reading here - to think big, …to ask big, and …to act big … because we have a big God in us, Who wants to do big stuff through us!
My Prayer Today: Lord, mold my belief to be big like You! Amen
My Journal for Today: Sometimes, when I read the Pauline epistles, I’m awed – maybe “overwhelmed” is a better word – by the Apostle’s strength in the face of all Paul endured [see 2nd Cor. 11: 23 – 29]. In essence, in this latter passage, we read of Paul who was boasting of what God had given him to endure all that he had gone through; and today’s verse, as well as 2nd Cor. 12: 7 – 11, documents how that could take place in the face of all the weaknesses imposed on him by his life. I became especially impressed by Paul’s fortitude this past month when my wife and I were blessed to travel to Athens, Ephesus, and other sites where Paul traveled in his three missionary journeys to the Asia- Minor and Europe. What the Apostle went through to carry the Gospel to the Gentile world, as documented in 2nd Cor. 11: 16-33, shows us that any person can endure much more than we think we can with the power given to us by the Holy Spirit to deal with our weaknesses (again see 1st Cor. 10: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9 and Phil. 4: 13).
Yes, having stood on Mars hill in Athens, where the Apostle preached to lost Greek intellectuals about their idolatry; and having been in Ephesus where this missionary of the Gospel was almost stoned to death, I’m awed by Paul’s strength in the face of human weaknesses. But then I realize the truth in Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, from which today’s verse is extracted. Paul, by contextual extension was praying for all believers (you and me included) to have the same power exhibited in our lives which was exhibited in his … that power activated when we surrender to God’s Spirit in the same way as Paul was Christ’s bond-slave.
So, when you or I surrender our lives in faith, as did Paul, the same infinitely powerful Holy Spirit, Who raised Christ from the dead and Who indwelt the Apostle Paul, is there for us … to empower and enable us to be overcomers as was Paul. Go to 2nd Cor. 4: 8 – 9, 16 and Rom. 8: 38 – 39; and from God’s truth you will see that the same Holy Spirit Who gave Paul his power is God’s Spirit, Who will allow no temporal circumstance to claim victory over us, in spite of our human weaknesses.
The Spirit of God, Who dwells in me, is the same Spirit whom Peter recognized would (and does) give any believing Christian all the spiritual resources necessary to face anything this life can dish out (see 2nd Peter 1: 3). And the only thing that limits the expression of God’s Spirit in and through me is ME. It is only my disbelief or my broken fellowship with Christ which limits me from becoming the Spirit-empowered Christian God wants me to be.
God, the Holy Spirit, is in me; and as Paul prays and declares in today’s verse, God can do, and will do, far more than I can ever ask or even imagine. So, it behooves me - and you if you’re reading here - to think big, …to ask big, and …to act big … because we have a big God in us, Who wants to do big stuff through us!
My Prayer Today: Lord, mold my belief to be big like You! Amen
Monday, April 06, 2009
2009 – Day 95.Apr. 6 – God of Every Detail
2009 – Day 95.Apr. 6 – God of Every Detail
Passage of the Day: Numbers 27: 12 – 23 … Link to study passage …
Also Deuteronomy 34: 9 … Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
My Journal for Today: I totally agree with Chuck Swindoll today, always standing in amazement as to how God’s word, written in 66 books, by 44 authors, in three languages, over 3000 years of history, focusing on one unique Subject, Jesus Christ, can be so personal to me or to anyone who uses it as God intended it (see Isaiah 55: 11 -link provided). He has brought the compendium of personal wisdom for the ages into my (or your) life to be a light unto my (or your) path (see Psalm119: 105 -linked) in His perfect timing and for His perfect will. Do you not, with Swindoll and me, stand in awe of this?
As Pastor Chuck posited in his devotional today, perhaps, reading today’s passages, you are a Joshua, who has significant challenges lying ahead of you in life, not knowing how things are going to turn out. Perhaps you’ve been upgraded or downgraded; and you don’t know what life is going to hold for you. Perhaps God has lain a task in front of you which seems ultra-daunting; and you don’t know how you’re going to handle it. But like and older, more mature Apostle Peter wrote, God cares (see in the NT, 1st Peter 5: 7); and as old Joshua was encouraged to realize, God will never leave you holding the bag alone when His will has been lain before you (see Joshua 1: 1 – 9). You may be overwhelmed; but God is not; and there’s no reason for you to fret over life’s circumstances (as the Apostle Paul had discovered in his life, being imprisoned while carrying out God’s will - see Phil. 4: 6 – 7).
And I’m throwing all these specific passages of Scripture to you, as they bubble up in my consciousness, writing this, because God is giving me His word to share with you to illustrate my very point, … that His word will never come up void or powerless in shining a light on your specific path (again go to links above and see Isaiah 55: 11 and Psalm 119: 105).
Are you getting the picture; … that our God is the God of ever detail, just like He was for Joshua when God’s gargantuan task of taking over for Moses was put into his hands? And God has a plan for you and me too. All we need to do is find His will for our lives and then to lay aside personal fears and selfish pride, and to take up this cross, and to follow our Savior into His promised land (see Jesus’ own direction in this regard in Luke 9: 23, which I surely hope you have memorized by now as often as I reference it).
God’s in the details, my beloved; and even more importantly, HE’S IN TOTAL CONTROL! If, like Joshua, you have a whopper of a task in front of you; and you know it’s God will for your life, … take heed and be encouraged by the passages to which I’ve referred you in this journal entry. My mentor used to say, often, “God’s calling is His enablement!” And that applies to each and every one of us in each and every moment of each and ever day of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I take up the encouragement of Joshua 1: 8 and Psalm 119: 105, abiding in Your word to be a light unto my path. Amen
Passage of the Day: Numbers 27: 12 – 23 … Link to study passage …
Also Deuteronomy 34: 9 … Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
My Journal for Today: I totally agree with Chuck Swindoll today, always standing in amazement as to how God’s word, written in 66 books, by 44 authors, in three languages, over 3000 years of history, focusing on one unique Subject, Jesus Christ, can be so personal to me or to anyone who uses it as God intended it (see Isaiah 55: 11 -link provided). He has brought the compendium of personal wisdom for the ages into my (or your) life to be a light unto my (or your) path (see Psalm119: 105 -linked) in His perfect timing and for His perfect will. Do you not, with Swindoll and me, stand in awe of this?
As Pastor Chuck posited in his devotional today, perhaps, reading today’s passages, you are a Joshua, who has significant challenges lying ahead of you in life, not knowing how things are going to turn out. Perhaps you’ve been upgraded or downgraded; and you don’t know what life is going to hold for you. Perhaps God has lain a task in front of you which seems ultra-daunting; and you don’t know how you’re going to handle it. But like and older, more mature Apostle Peter wrote, God cares (see in the NT, 1st Peter 5: 7); and as old Joshua was encouraged to realize, God will never leave you holding the bag alone when His will has been lain before you (see Joshua 1: 1 – 9). You may be overwhelmed; but God is not; and there’s no reason for you to fret over life’s circumstances (as the Apostle Paul had discovered in his life, being imprisoned while carrying out God’s will - see Phil. 4: 6 – 7).
And I’m throwing all these specific passages of Scripture to you, as they bubble up in my consciousness, writing this, because God is giving me His word to share with you to illustrate my very point, … that His word will never come up void or powerless in shining a light on your specific path (again go to links above and see Isaiah 55: 11 and Psalm 119: 105).
Are you getting the picture; … that our God is the God of ever detail, just like He was for Joshua when God’s gargantuan task of taking over for Moses was put into his hands? And God has a plan for you and me too. All we need to do is find His will for our lives and then to lay aside personal fears and selfish pride, and to take up this cross, and to follow our Savior into His promised land (see Jesus’ own direction in this regard in Luke 9: 23, which I surely hope you have memorized by now as often as I reference it).
God’s in the details, my beloved; and even more importantly, HE’S IN TOTAL CONTROL! If, like Joshua, you have a whopper of a task in front of you; and you know it’s God will for your life, … take heed and be encouraged by the passages to which I’ve referred you in this journal entry. My mentor used to say, often, “God’s calling is His enablement!” And that applies to each and every one of us in each and every moment of each and ever day of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I take up the encouragement of Joshua 1: 8 and Psalm 119: 105, abiding in Your word to be a light unto my path. Amen
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