Daily Courage

[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. (Judges 6:12b)
For when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:10b)

Gideon

Gideon a mighty warrior? When you read Judges, the opposite seems to be the case. Gideon was a timid, disappointed Israelite. Yet, God called him a mighty warrior.

Was God being cynical? No, God is never sarcastic. God did not see what Gideon was, but what he could become. God sees us in a different way than we view ourselves. God chooses the weak to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). He can turn a weak and frightened Gideon into a hero and leader.

Don't look upon yourself in a negative way. "I can't do anything, I am a nobody. I have nothing to offer."  Whoever dares to answer "Yes" when God calls, will be anointed by Him.

For the weak are strong. For the weak can count on God's help. And will receive it. Even today.

[Judy Harder]

Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this crag. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering. (Judges 6:25-26)

Gideon

Servanthood starts at home. Before Gideon could lead the people back to their God, he had to get rid of the idols in his own home.

Serving God does not start on the mission field but at home, in your own church and family. That is often the hardest place to serve. It seems much easier to take the Gospel to far away peoples than to share Christ with your family and friends. But those who are ashamed of Christ at home will never be able to serve Him abroad. 

Conversion starts with, "turning your back on..." Coming to Christ means turning your back on your idols, whatever they may be. With this command Gideon's mission started. "Tear down your father's altar." That could cause a very negative reaction from his father. But Gideon was obedient to God. It is true that Gideon was afraid to be so radical. He did it at night, but he did it ... "Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon" (Judges 6:34).

It will always be that way. Is there a Baal idol in your life? Whatever it may be, tear it down, get rid of it. Then God will fill you with a new spirit, the Holy Spirit.

[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,

I will place a wool fleece on the threshing-floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said. (Judges 6:37)

Gideon

Was it alright for Gideon to ask for a sign? Wasn't he filled with the Holy Spirit? Hadn't he heard God's voice already? What more did he want?

The fact that God granted Gideon's request, does not mean He agreed with him. But God understands our human weaknesses and treats us with godly patience. God goes to meet us and meets us just where we are.

So to "put down a fleece" and ask for a sign time and time again, is this right?

God gave us His Word as a light for our path and a lamp unto our feet (Psalm 119:105). If God's Word is God's will for your life, He will guide you by that Word. That is no mysterious or magic act. It means: walking with God.

Whosoever follows Him, communicates with Him and keeps His Word, will be guided by Him in all truth.

[Judy Harder]

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands."
(Judges 7:2)

Gideon

You cannot be too small for God to use, but you can be too big. That is what the story in Judges 7:2 teaches us.

When we no longer depend upon ourselves He takes us by the hand and tells us that we can trust Him completely. We have to learn to be dependent on God. Without Him we can do nothing. We will also discover that He can do the impossible.

It is not our responsibility to understand how He will perform His work in and through us. He only asks us to trust Him and do what He tells us to do.

It may seem absurd. To win a war with just empty jars. And 300 soldiers against 135,000. Numbers are not important to God. He is looking for empty vessels, in which He can pour out His treasures.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). This way we will get the victory and God the honor. Honor to who honor is due.

[Judy Harder]

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they criticized him sharply. (Judges 8:1)

Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. (Philippians 2:2)

Gideon

It is sad but true that many times persecution comes from within, from fellow-believers. That hurts the most.

After the great victory, Gideon is taken up roundly. Not by his enemies but by his own people. "Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?"

It is easy to say this when the battle is over. When Gideon needed them, his own people were nowhere to be seen. But now that the war is won, they surface, full of criticism.

It's an old trick of the devil - then and now. Satan delights in us fighting each other instead of him. He is a master at causing division and Christians are very willing subjects - at least in this area.

Be aware of this today. Don't listen to the devil and don't allow him to misuse you. Put on the whole armor of God. Then you will not only be able to withstand the attacks, but also be victorious.

[Judy Harder]

Sunday, March 14, 2010 

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,

Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. (Judges 8:27)

Gideon

The story of Gideon does not have a happy ending.

Gideon put himself in a spiritual position which was impossible for God to bless.

The ephod was a precious tunic, worn by the priests when they were seeking God's will for the people. That robe Gideon acquired for himself. He installed his own worship service. Not in Shiloh, as God had ordained, but in Ophrah. Not performed by the Levites but by Gideon himself. In doing so, Gideon disobeyed God's order.

He had been called to be a leader, not a priest. God anoints whom He appoints. It is very dangerous to take upon ourselves all the different ministries that God has appointed in His Church. That can lead to pride and dictatorship. It became a snare to Gideon, however well-intentioned it may have been.

Work with whatever talents God has given you and do not covet other people's gifts. God will reward that attitude with His full blessing.

[Judy Harder]

This psalm can be divided into three parts. In all three, David prays for forgiveness. Only then can he have intimate fellowship with God. Real deliverance is the result of intimate fellowship with the Lord. To those people He will reveal His covenant.

David

The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish.
Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.
See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me!
Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.
(Psalm 25:14-21)

[Judy Harder]

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful ... This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:2,8)

Menes Abdul Noor

God works in the heart of the believers, not on their outward appearances (1 Samuel 16:7). He does not sew a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old garment (Mark 2:21). He makes you a new creation, so you joyfully shout, "the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As a result of this new life you bear fruit. The Father prunes you so you produce much fruit. We all need pruning to lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1). We have bad habits, like weights burdening us.

We also have evil surroundings ensnaring us. Our abiding in Christ is the condition to bear fruit, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself (John 15:4).  Our fruit should increase as we grow in knowing Christ. The greatest fruit is to live victoriously, defeating Satan and having a successful witness for Christ (Acts 1:. It glorifies the Father, since it declares the kindness of His care, the goodness of His laws and the abundance of His grace.

Jesus has chosen you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain (John 15:16). He chose you for salvation, and for a service. What an honor!

Writer of the Month:  Menes Abdul-Noor from Egypt. A respected leader of the Christian Church in Cairo.

[Judy Harder]

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
(John 15:7)

Menes Abdul Noor

A bored father scolded his son saying, "When will you quit asking?" The smart son answered, "When you quit giving!" God is never a bored Father, and He gives to all liberally and without reproach (James 1:5).

When you abide in Christ He makes you pure-hearted. He tells you, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).

God testifies to you that He has found you a person after His own heart, who will do all His will (Acts 13:22). If you do God's will as if it were your will, He does your will as if it were His will.

"What the righteous desire will be granted" (Proverbs 10:24).

When we abide in Christ we come to the Father in the merits of Christ. We hear Jesus saying, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:13, 14).

God says to His repentant people, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile" (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

Let us abide in Him, and experience answered prayers!

Writer of the Month:  Menes Abdul-Noor from Egypt. A respected leader of the Christian Church in Cairo.

[Judy Harder]

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (John 15:9)

Menes Abdul Noor

What a privilege to abide in the love of Jesus, so we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and love our brothers and sisters in Christ because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5).

The love of God to us was giving, forgiving, accepting - continuous and sacrificial. The Bible says that God reconciles us to Himself, but it never says that we reconcile ourselves to God, because God was never in enmity with us. Jesus said, "I have called you friends" (John 15:15) because on His part He was full of love to us, though we were enemies of Him.

When we abide in Christ He teaches us His will. He does not call us "servants" for the servant does not know what his master is doing. He only knows the master's orders, but not the master's plan. "The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them" (Psalm 25:14). God said to Abraham, 'shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" (Genesis 18:17). Jesus said, "If any one chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own" (John 7:17).

Let us love Him with all our hearts; imitate Him and learn from Him.

Writer of the Month:  Menes Abdul-Noor from Egypt. A respected leader of the Christian Church in Cairo.

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.