And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor." (Judges 6:12)
Here’s a man who was alone beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. His people would plant crops only to have invaders come like locusts and steal the harvest. Gideon and the Israelites had lost hope that God would save them. They were reduced to hiding in caves to avoid detection. These were God’s chosen people who had not obeyed His voice (vs 10). But God, rich in mercy, called Gideon out through an angel of the Lord. He used Gideon to save His people.
When God’s voice first calls out to a man, it sounds foreign and misplaced. To be called a “man of valor” while hiding away in fear and hopelessness sounds foolish. Yet we know that God sees the heart and the finished product of a person long before the work is completed. A person caught in repetitive sin can only see their failures, not their future. They have lived in disobedience, fear and shame for so long, they lose hope that God is willing to intervene. For Gideon and his people, God was willing to use a willing soldier to restore order and righteousness. For those caught in sin, He is willing to restore if we are willing to surrender. Gideon had to surrender his fear and doubt. We must do the same.
The Casting Crown’s song says that “the voice of Truth tells me a different story.” God’s voice in our lives comes in many forms. We hear Him through the Word, fellow believers, prayer and circumstances. His voice is Truth. It is the sound to follow in the darkness until we can begin to see light in our tribulations. Hear it, believe it, trust it, live it! As we follow this path, we become the person He called us to be…even a might man of valor who saves his people. Who has God called you to be?
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
What motivates you?
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:12-14) NIV
Like the rest of us Paul had a life before Jesus Christ became the focus. For Paul, he had a prideful pedigree of education and accomplishment to recall. He also could recall overseeing the brutal beatings of Christians simply for believing that the Messiah had come in the flesh. I think he wrote this passage in Philippians because he knew the power of the past to draw us away from the pursuit of Christ. We can be tempted to think highly of our former accomplishments or to be tormented by depth of our depravity. Neither serves us well in keeping our focus on the future.
So what motivates to us to “keep up the good fight” (2Tim 4:7) as Paul did until the end? While the darkness of our past can be a reminder of the grace of God, it fails to motivate us consistently in moving forward. A person is best motivated by a vision of his future that reaches beyond the failures of his past. If we focus on the failures, our new life is based on a platform of guilt and shame. We can’t simply overcome the guilt of our past with new works. That system leaves us under the law as before salvation (Rom 4:2). Jesus offers something better than redemptive works to make up for our past. He offers us new life that is based on grace, not works (Eph 2:8-9).
The “straining” toward the goal is rooted in keeping my mind on Christ, not on my past accomplishments/failures. The person I was is not who I am (2Cor 5:17). Jesus has a vision and a destiny for my life that goes beyond my imagination. He has one for you as well. As we receive His forgiveness and grace and stay focused on Jesus, He reveals the prize..
Like the rest of us Paul had a life before Jesus Christ became the focus. For Paul, he had a prideful pedigree of education and accomplishment to recall. He also could recall overseeing the brutal beatings of Christians simply for believing that the Messiah had come in the flesh. I think he wrote this passage in Philippians because he knew the power of the past to draw us away from the pursuit of Christ. We can be tempted to think highly of our former accomplishments or to be tormented by depth of our depravity. Neither serves us well in keeping our focus on the future.
So what motivates to us to “keep up the good fight” (2Tim 4:7) as Paul did until the end? While the darkness of our past can be a reminder of the grace of God, it fails to motivate us consistently in moving forward. A person is best motivated by a vision of his future that reaches beyond the failures of his past. If we focus on the failures, our new life is based on a platform of guilt and shame. We can’t simply overcome the guilt of our past with new works. That system leaves us under the law as before salvation (Rom 4:2). Jesus offers something better than redemptive works to make up for our past. He offers us new life that is based on grace, not works (Eph 2:8-9).
The “straining” toward the goal is rooted in keeping my mind on Christ, not on my past accomplishments/failures. The person I was is not who I am (2Cor 5:17). Jesus has a vision and a destiny for my life that goes beyond my imagination. He has one for you as well. As we receive His forgiveness and grace and stay focused on Jesus, He reveals the prize..
Thursday, August 5, 2010
How Wet is Water?
“ I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10)
What God says He will do, He will do! Sometimes as situations in life appear to be moving away from God’s intention, I am tempted to question the sovereignty of God in all things. Several nights ago while laying awake thinking about the day’s events, this question popped into my mind. God, how sovereign are you? It felt like an odd question at the time. I am convinced the Lord put this question on my heart in order to give me an answer that was much deeper than my stewing about the day. Just for reference, my “stewing” about the day usually involves remembering some of the challenging situations I have encountered in counseling and wondering what my next move should be. This time God just went straight to the heart of the matter. He put my concerns in the form of a question that only He could answer. Before I could consider a clever biblical response to the question, God proposed another question that referred to the first one. How sovereign are you God?.....How wet is water? Wow, I really had to think about that one.
Water is completely wet. Every part of water can be described as wet. If fact, when you try to describe water, you can’t avoid using the word wet. The two are inseparable. Water is a lot of things, but in all uses, wet! I think you see the connection God was showing me. He is many things, yet sovereign in all things. The degree of His sovereignty cannot be measured in any situation. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). I need to remember that God is working for THE good and MY good in all circumstances. He is completely sovereign in the big picture of the world’s turmoil and in the little picture our individual lives. For the people I care about, their struggles are evidence of His working out His will and His pleasure in each of us (Phil 2:13). The struggles we face today are for the same purpose as those faced by ancient Israel, when God said,
“See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isa 48:10)
God is completely sovereign in all things, for His glory and for our good! God is sovereign like water is wet…I’m good with that.
I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10)
What God says He will do, He will do! Sometimes as situations in life appear to be moving away from God’s intention, I am tempted to question the sovereignty of God in all things. Several nights ago while laying awake thinking about the day’s events, this question popped into my mind. God, how sovereign are you? It felt like an odd question at the time. I am convinced the Lord put this question on my heart in order to give me an answer that was much deeper than my stewing about the day. Just for reference, my “stewing” about the day usually involves remembering some of the challenging situations I have encountered in counseling and wondering what my next move should be. This time God just went straight to the heart of the matter. He put my concerns in the form of a question that only He could answer. Before I could consider a clever biblical response to the question, God proposed another question that referred to the first one. How sovereign are you God?.....How wet is water? Wow, I really had to think about that one.
Water is completely wet. Every part of water can be described as wet. If fact, when you try to describe water, you can’t avoid using the word wet. The two are inseparable. Water is a lot of things, but in all uses, wet! I think you see the connection God was showing me. He is many things, yet sovereign in all things. The degree of His sovereignty cannot be measured in any situation. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). I need to remember that God is working for THE good and MY good in all circumstances. He is completely sovereign in the big picture of the world’s turmoil and in the little picture our individual lives. For the people I care about, their struggles are evidence of His working out His will and His pleasure in each of us (Phil 2:13). The struggles we face today are for the same purpose as those faced by ancient Israel, when God said,
“See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isa 48:10)
God is completely sovereign in all things, for His glory and for our good! God is sovereign like water is wet…I’m good with that.
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