Tag: Awesome God

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Stand Amazed

Daily Reading

Judges 6-7

Daily Thought

Gideon’s leadership was far from stellar: “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15); “Show me a sign that it is you who speak with me” (Judges 6:17); “Because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night” (Judges 6:27); “Behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said” (Judges 6:37); “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew” (Judges 6:39). “The Lord said to him, ‘If you are afraid, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.’” And he did; he went down with Purah (Judges 7:10-11).

This is anything but inspiring. Certainly God could find someone else in Israel with more faith and courage, but that’s not what the Israelites needed. When, finally, Gideon stepped up, God trimmed his army from 32,000 to 300, “lest Israel boast, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me'” (Judges 7:2). This is the “generation who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). It was time for the people of Israel to get to know again the might of their God, and a cowardly commander leading 300 men armed with trumpets against the menacing army of Midian was just the ticket.

When God chooses you to accomplish his will, do not imagine it is because of all that you bring to the table. Just do what he says. Then, be ready to stand amazed at the might of your God.

Daily Prayer

God, You are God. Simple as that. In fact, it’s Your Name, the Name You gave Moses. The Name we are to remember You by. “I Am That I Am.” You are God. There is no other.

What You say, You do. God, I pray that my faith is full, that my devotion is pure, that I follow You without fail, that I never take my eyes off of You. You are God. There is no other.

Amen

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Measuring Up

Daily Reading

Numbers 11-13

Daily Thought

Twelve spies were sent by Moses to check out the land of Canaan, the Promised Land of God. They returned after forty days, with good news. The land was flowing with milk and honey. However, there was also bad news. The people were strong and their cities fortified. “There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (Numbers 13:33).

There would be, someday, another warrior of God thought too small for battle against a large opponent. First King Saul told David, “You cannot fight Goliath. You are only a boy.” Then David put on the armor, but it did not fit. If you are too small for the armor, you are too small for the battle. Finally, the big Philistine himself laughed at David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?”

The Israelites’ problem was someone thought they were too small for battle, but it wasn’t the Nephilim or the Amalekites or the Hittites or the Jebusites or the Amorites or the Canaanites. It was the Israelites themselves. “We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers.” 

It never occurred to David to measure himself. He measured Goliath and he measured God. “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (1Samuel 17:45). 

“What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?”
~Romans 8:31 

So David killed Goliath with a slingshot. Then he cut off his head.

Daily Prayer

Awesome God, You reign from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. You are the Almighty, the Everlasting, my Stronghold, my Shelter, my Fortress in time of trouble. You are my Savior.

My God is an awesome God. May I never rely on my own strength and may I never forget Your strength. I shall place my trust in it, in You, always. If my God is for me, who can be against me?

Amen