Still nursing a sinus episode so perhaps our Monday time together will be brief.
I have spent much of today reading, that is when I was not sleeping.
One of my reading choices has been Radical by David Platt. It’s not a speedy read for me as it has required pondering, note taking and praying. I do not know what the outcome of reading it will be — I pray it’s RADICAL.
I also read a bit in Judges.
Judges 6: (New American Standard Bible)
12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.”
13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
15 He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
16 But the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”
17 So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me.
18 “Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”
19 Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.
20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
22 When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.”
23 The LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.”
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
via Judges 6:12-24 – Passage Lookup – New American Standard Bible – BibleGateway.com.
And there is much more in this passage than I am not going to touch on tonight as time is ticking.
Please note how the LORD addressed Gideon: 12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.”
O valiant warrior.
That is not how Gideon saw himself as shown by verse 13.
Perhaps the LORD is seeing more in you than you are seeing in yourself.
I appreciate and enjoy verse 14: “The LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
THE LORD LOOKED AT HIM AND SAID.
What more would we want than for the LORD to look at us and speak to us?
In the beginning of our Text Gideon is afraid, even thinks of himself as cowardly; but JESUS doesn’t. And by verse 24 neither does Gideon.
Gideon said: “The LORD is Peace.”
Yielding to and knowing JESUS is our very own PEACE does not mean we will never be afraid but it does mean we are valiant warriors in the making!
Thank You for this Passage and for the encouragement You give us in it, ABBA, and I pray, HOLY SPIRIT, for You to take this offering and minister it as You will. You know the precious souls on own minds. Thank You for the healing You are continuing to bring. Thank You for Who You are to us. Thank You for our IDOK Troops, keep them safe and protected we pray. Amen and amen in YOUR NAME, LORD JESUS.
Blessed to bless,
Kathie
