April 17, 2016 ()

Bible Text: Judges 6:12-23 |

Know Your Purpose        April 17, 2016

Judges 6:12-13 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
Judges 6:17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
Judges 6:36-40 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Judges 7:10-11 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 11 And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host.
Think of all the encouragement that God gave Gideon. And he had the testimonies of others; Noah, Abraham, and David. God did not make a mistake in choosing Gideon. Gideon had a hard time believing God and needed extra encouragement, but he did. It doesn’t matter how you get there, just get there. God doesn’t choose the mighty, the wise. We just need to believe in His plan for ourselves.
Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
We live by the faith of the Son of God. That new man. The victory has already been given to me. Even though Gideon had a hard time, eventually he believed. He is listed with the O.T. worthies of faith.
Hebrews 11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, . .
God sent you His word? It will prosper. There have been times for all of us when we have not believed, even when we have seen His miracles. Like Elijah, he had a marvelous victory on Mount Carmel.
1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
But two days later he wanted to die.
1 Kings 19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
We grow in those dark places. When I am doubting I need to remember the times God comforted me. God is working faith in your life. There is glory and praise in waiting on the Lord.
You say, Gideon had a specific purpose and calling from God – but what about me? You’ve got the most valuable purpose to God. Follow Paul as he followed Christ. If I know I am a son of God and He wants me to grow up into Him, you know God’s purpose – the high calling. Paul was given the mystery of Christ and His church. Quit worrying about if you will be ready. Just know the grace of God will do it. Fight the good fight of faith, even when you are discouraged. We have all grace to super abound. You are highly favored. Let’s run and run well. Believe in the grace of God! Love His appearing.

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