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Daily Service: More than conquerors
Daily Service: More than conquerors
Gideon was hiding
Judges 6:11-14 (ESV) Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”
Gideon even has the nerve to “prove God” and God goes along with it. If you want a good story that describes a lot of us, read the whole Gideon story in Judges.
Shechem stepped up
Genesis 34:18-20 (ESV) Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem.
And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house. So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying,
(this is actually the story of the deceit of Simeon and Levi, but you can read the rest of the story in Genesis)
Jabez wanted to be used by God
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (ESV) Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.
God is encouraging Israel to step up and take ownership of the world God gave them
Isaiah 54:2-3 (ESV) “Enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.
Romans 8:37-39 (ESV) No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In many ways, in many forms, God has encouraged us to step up and make a difference in the world BECAUSE God is with us.
#Outreach: That the world may know
#Prayer Focus: Pray for Our Prodigals
#Praise the Lord
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The prayer of Jabez shows us what a lot of people fail to come to understanding of is that God should be focus point of our lives and He wants to bless our lives. But, we must first make a choice to invite God into our life and ask for His blessings. Jabez wanted to succeed and asked for increase so He be an influence for Kingdom of God. This shows us that it is important that when we want to have certain accomplishments that we have God on our side and we are empowered by Spirit of God.
Well said. Do you mind if I append this comment to the post for later use? That was kind of the point of the post. I read a Joni Earackson Tada devotional this morning (The Isaiah reference) and it connected in my mind to the prayer of Jabez
Sure, go ahead.