Thursday, April 16, 2015
I would like to share with you today some highlights from our bible class last night in church where we focused on some life lessons found in the story of Gideon, namely those found in the 6th Chapter of the book of Judges. We were immediately told in the very first verse of the chapter that Gideon’s clan had done evil in the sight of the Lord, and that was the reason that He gave them over into the hands of their enemies. (Midianites) Their particular evil was that they had begun to worship the gods of the Amorites. That was the first life lesson. That is, we cannot stray from God or continually do evil in His sight and not expect to suffer the consequences.
The second thing we saw in the chapter was the cruelty and oppression of the enemies of God’s people. They struck so much fear on Gideon’s clan that they fled into the mountains, caves, or any type of stronghold they could find, and when they did, their enemies stole their crops and destroyed their fields. Just like God’s people in Gideon’s day, Christians today can be their own enemies and our biggest one after that is the devil. What does he do even today? Jesus, speaking about his sheep, (God’s children) said in John 10:10, “The thief (Satan) has come only to kill, steal and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and might have it more abundantly.” I trust you can recognize that Gideon’s people would have had no trouble at all with their enemies, if they had not strayed from God. It is the same for us today. If we stay close to the Lord, our enemies will cause us very little trouble.
The last lesson (eternal truth) in the story that I would like to mention is found in verse 12 where the Angel of the Lord addressed Gideon as a “mighty warrior.” By the way, it was the Lord Himself who was talking to him. Keep in mind that when the Lord called him that, Gideon was threshing wheat in a place where the enemy could not see him. Basically, he was in hiding. Obviously, Gideon himself thought that the last thing he could be was a “mighty warrior.” But this is how that verse relates to you and me: We are not who the world says we are, nor are we who we think we are; we are who God says we are. As Christians, many times we shortchange ourselves and as a result we don’t attempt reaching new heights. We forget that, with God’s help, we can do all things. (See Philippians 4:13) That is like having millions of dollars in the bank and being content to draw out twenty dollars every now and then. One thing is for sure: No matter what we or anybody calls us, no child of God can ever be a “loser.” Paul said in Romans 8:37 that we are “more than conquerors” and that settles it.
Memory verse for the week: (1 Thessalonians 5:18) “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
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