“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.’” v.1-2 (NLT)
This wasn’t the first time God and Abram have ever chatted. But this time God doesn’t just make a promise, he makes a covenant with him. A covenant and promise are very similar but also very different. A promise is God simply saying that He will do something. A covenant is God saying He will do something but also demands something from us. When God appears to Abram, he ask’s him to “Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.” The call is the same for us today. God asks us to serve Him faithfully and to live a blameless life. Lets look at these two a little closer.
Serving Faithfully can simply be defined by our obedience and disciplines. However, these are outward expressions of having a relationship with Christ. It’s not just doing something for the Lord, its being who the Lord wants us to be. The only way we can do both, is simply spending time with Him on a regular basis through worship, prayer, Bible Reading. It’s hard to know someone you don’t spend much time with.
Living Blamelessly is a matter of purity. Purity encompasses our thoughts, actions, motives, heart and much much more. Many times when we think of purity we simply think of purity from sexual things. But purity actually involves every aspect of your life.
Today, Would OTHERS describe you as a person who is Serving God faithfully and living a blameless life? Would YOU describe you as a person who is Serving God faithfully and living a blameless life? Most importantly, would GOD describe you as a person who is Serving Him faithfully and living a blameless life?
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan” v 1-3 (NLT)
Sarai took matters into her own hands by giving Hagar to Abram. Like Abram, she had trouble believing God’s promise that was apparently directed specifically toward Abram and Sarai. Out of his lack of faith came a series of problems. This invariably happens when we take over for God, trying to make His promise come true through efforts that are not in line with his specific directions. In this case, time was the greatest test of Abram and Sarai’s willingness to let God work in their lives. Sometimes we too must simply wait. When we ask God for something and have to wait, we can be tempted to take matters into our own hands and interfere with God’s plans.
Today, how have you responded to the Lord? Have you trusted Him, ignored Him, or tried to make something happen that He may have even promised in your own timing?
“And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.” v.6 (NLT)
Have you ever felt like you were going through the motions, jumping through the right hoops, but still feeling empty? There is a reason for that. The enemy tries to keep us busy so we feel like we are doing the right things, but only God can can stir our hearts in a way that causes us to feel connected, driven, and effective. God gives us the why behind the work and the passion behind the perseverance. But it all starts with a little word called faith!
When we look at Abrams life it’s easy to see that he had been demonstrating his faith through his actions. However, it was his faith in the Lord, not his actions, that made Abram right with the Lord. We, too, can have a right relationship with God simply by trusting Him. Our outward actions: church attendance, prayer, good deeds, service, will not by themselves make us right with God. (yes you read that right) A right relationship with God is based on faith! Faith is the heartfelt inner confidence that God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do. Right actions will follow naturally as a by products to our faith in Christ.
“Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. ” Romans 4:1-5 (NLT)
Today, Are you driven by faith, or by feelings? Both can cause us to do good things, but only one will make us righteous in the eyes of God.
Have you ever felt like God was asking you to do the impossible? I mean look at you!!! Just Kidding! Many times that is exactly what we do, we look at ourselves and our own resources, instead of looking to God, and trusting Him to do what we thought to be impossible or a mistake. Gideon is a great example of a person who would give excuse after excuse but in the end would trust God and see Him do something that seemed impossible.
HEROES
“Gideon: What God Can Do With a Few”
Judges 6-7
* God doesn’t use extraordinary people! Why? Because there are none! – Romans 3
* God loves taking a zero to a hero, a looser to a leader, the ordinary to extraordinary.
“The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.” Judges 6:1-6 (NLT)
* Throughout scripture we see the people of God going through these stages – Rebellion – Retribution – Repentance – Restoration
THREE BIG THINGS WE CAN LEARN FROM GIDEON
1. In his CIRCUMSTANCES– Gideon was SHATTERED.
“Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.” Judges 6:11 (NLT)
* You don’t have to have all of your life together for God to show up. He’s not dependent on you at all!
2. By his SURPRISE – Gideon was SELECTED.
“The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!’ ‘Sir,’ Gideon replied, ‘if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, “The Lord brought us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.’ Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’ ‘But Lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!’ The Lord said to him, ‘I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.’” Judges 6:12-16 (NLT)
* If, Why, Where, But – The four big words of excuses!
Remember: God sees you not only AS YOU ARE but also as you will ONE DAY BE.
* Apple Illustration – How many seeds are in this apple? Lesson – We may be able to count how many seeds are in an apple, but there is no way for us to count how many apples are in each seed! God sees the future potential, not just the present reality!
3. For his GROWTH – Gideon was STRETCHED.
“That night the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.’” Judges 6:25-26 (NLT)
* We have to be rescued from ourselves first, before we can begin to be used to rescue others.
Gideon was stretched in these three areas
SPIRITUALLY
EMOTIONALLY
PHYSICALLY
4. Through his GOD – Gideon was SUCCESSFUL.
Command #1: Excuse the COWARDS.
‘Therefore, tell the people, “Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountainand go home.”’ So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.’ Judges 7:3 (NLT)
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
* God doesn’t make public heroes of private cowards!
* Sometimes the Church doesn’t need to get bigger, it needs to get better!
Command #2: Exclude the Careless.
“But the Lord told Gideon, ‘There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.’ When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, ‘Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.’ Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.” Judges 7:4-6 (NLT)
* One + God = A Majority
* Note: Worship and cracked pots is all they had – points to the New Testament.
Command #3: Enlist the COMMITTED
“The Lord told Gideon, ‘With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.’ Judges 7:7 (NLT)
“He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it. Then he said to them, ‘Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do. As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns, blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon!”’ It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars. Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’ Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape. When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.” Judges 7:16-22 (NLT)
If you missed this weeks message, I encourage you to get it here. While you are there, browse around our new website … we think you will like it and find it to be a great tool in inviting friends to FBC Harvester.
As always, I hope you make plans soon to join us at FBC Harvester next weekend! If distance is a problem, you are always welcome to listen to any of the teachings from our worship service from our website. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us here. We would love the privilege of helping where we can.
“When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. 15There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.” v.14-16 (NLT)
Would you describe yourself as a prepared person? Let me ask that a different way, would you describe yourself as a proactive person or a reactive person? A proactive person prepares for things while a reactive person simply responds to events. This is just one of the many things that reveal your character. This passage reveals a couple of things about Abram’s Character that are important for us to note and challenges us to live by.
First, Abram had courage to face the powerful King and rescue lot. This courage came from the Lord which Abram knew personally. Because of our relationship with God, we can have courage to face our enemies. Our enemies are those obstacles that we face in everyday life. They come in the forms of difficult people, but mainly they come in the form of thoughts and desires. It’s part of the sinful nature that we have to learn to resist.
Second, Abram was prepared! Not only was he prepared, he had taken the time to train others for a potential conflict. The Bible says that we should be ready for anything. We never know what might be thrown our way, but we can be prepared for anything with a little discipline. We need to be disciplined in these five areas, Spiritually, Physically, Emotionally, Mentally, Socially. Here are some follow-up questions to address when thinking about each of these five areas:
Am I growing in likeness to Christ?
What I am I doing to prepare/protect myself in this area
How are others influencing me in this area of life.
How is my lack of discipline affecting in this area affecting me and potentially others.
Those are just four quick questions to ask yourself when you begin to think about becoming prepared and proactive.
Today, what needs to change in your life so you can be ready for any challenge that may arise?
“So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. 13But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord.” v 12-13 (NLT)
Have you ever done something that you thought was going to be better than it actually was? Have you ever put yourself in a situation that where you thought, “that would never happen to me.” How did it turn out for you? Lot did the same thing, he picked a place that looked good and seemed to have a lot of promise, but in the end it caused havoc and heartache because of the location and the surrounding influences of the people in the area.
For Lot, the good pasture and available water seemed like a wise choice at first. But Lot failed to recognize that the wicked Sodom could provide temptations strong enough to destroy his family. It leaves me with a question for all of us to think about today: Have you/I chosen to live, play, work in ‘Sodom’?
Now I understand what you are saying to yourself right now, but if someone doesn’t go and share Christ with them, how will they ever hear the message of Christ? Great question, but notice, Lot didn’t pick the land based on the opportunity to share the Gospel, he picked it based on the opportunity he saw in it for himself. So before you ask that question check your motives as to why you are putting yourself in the environment. Yes, God does command us to reach people in the ‘Sodom’ near us, however, we must be careful not to become like the very people we are trying to reach. If the only difference between you and them is church attendance, then why would they need Jesus?
Today, Are you being wise and intentional with where you spend your time? It will have an impact on you in ways you never thought possible!
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.’” v.1-3 (NLT)
Has God ever called you to do something that seemed extreme? Think about it for a minute. Ok, maybe extreme was intense, but has God ever called you or lead you to do something whether big or small? Did you do it?
Could you imagine what would have happened if Abram backed out on Gods calling? Where would we be today? That’s probably another blog post. But the reality is that Abram responded to Gods call with obedience. Let me say that word again, Obedience. It’s a word that many of us struggle with because Obedience to God requires Faith. God promised to bless Abram and make him famous, but God had one condition: Abram had to do what God wanted him to do. This meant leaving his home and friends and traveling to a new land where God promised to build a great nation from Abram’s family. Abram obeyed, walking away from his home for God’s promise of even greater blessings in the future. This was a step of faith that required obedience.
So lets go back to the question, has God ever asked you to do something? Have you done it? God may be trying to lead you to a place or greater service and usefulness to Him. Don’t let the comfort and security of your present situation make you miss God’s plan for you!
Today, will you take a leap of Faith and obey the Lords calling and leading?
At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babyloniaand settled there.
3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel,because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
The tower of Babel was a great achievement, a wonder of the world in that day. But it was a monument to the people themselves rather than to God. It was a great achievement that was being built with the wrong motives.
We may build monuments to ourselves as well. They can come in the form of expensive clothing, big houses, fancy cars, important jobs. All of these things listed aren’t bad when we keep them in proper perspective. They become monuments when we use them to give us identity and self-worth, because they take the place of God in our life.
Today, what monuments or towers are you building? Where are you looking to gain an identity?
Have you ever felt like you were hitting a brick wall? Joshua did! In fact, the wall he faced protected the city of Jericho! There is much we can learn from Joshua’s life and this story specifically. Today, as we continue our series “Heroes” we are going to unpack this particular story found in Joshua chapters 5-6. Here are my notes from todays message.
HEROES Joshua: When you are up against a wall Joshua 5-6
* Many times we get caught up on the size of our problem instead of the size of our God.
* Faith = hearing God and obeying God regardless of the circumstances or consequences.
* When we see how big God is and how small we are, we gain a new & deeper appreciation for God.
* God wants to lead us to the land of blessing, but we have to go thru some stuff to get there.
* In order to get to the blessings of God, we have to travel thru the valley of disaster. – Many times this is where we get stuck or give up.
* Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.” Hebrews 11:30
WHEN YOU’RE UP AGAINST A WALL & NEED A BREAKTHROUGH . . .
1. WORSHIP God FERVENTLY when He’s present.
“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NLT)
“When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to Him and demanded, ‘Are you friend or foe?’ ‘Neither one,’ He replied. ‘I am the commander of the Lord’s army.’ At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. ‘I am at your command,’ Joshua said. ‘What do you want your servant to do?’ The commander of the Lord’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did as he was told.” Joshua 5:13-15 (NLT)
* This passage points to Jesus – He is the commander of the Lord’s army. And it reveals that God shows up in ways we can understand.
* God’s not looking to take sides, He is looking to take control! (let this sink in a little)
* The question isn’t whose side God is going to be on, the question is who side are you going to be on!?!
* Fervent Worship grows great Faith!
PERSONAL INSIGHT #1: You must be CONQUERED by Jesus before you can be a CONQUEROR for Jesus.
* We need to learn to glance at our problems and gaze at JESUS!
* Victory begins with Surrender!
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37 (NKJV)
* God’s not interested in just having parts of your life, He desires to have all of You.
PERSONAL INSIGHT #2: PUBLIC victories are won in PRIVATE.
* God is not checking your church attendance, He is checking the condition of your heart!
2. BELIEVE God WHOLEHEARTEDLY when He speaks.
* There are some things that you can’t see until you believe!
“Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.’” Joshua 6:1-2 (NLT)
* You will have a clearer understanding of what God says personally and specifically, when you know what God says generally through His Word the Bible.
* Joshua wasn’t fighting for victory, he was fighting from victory! Look for yourself, “But the Lord said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho.’”
* There is no Jericho to big for God!
PERSONAL INSIGHT: God often orchestrates IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS to test and stretch our faith.
* There are times God will have you circle your problem so you see just how much you can’t conquer it on your own!
“. . . This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:4-5
3. OBEY God SPECIFICALLY when He commands.
‘Neither one,’ He replied. ‘I am the Commander of the Lord’s army.’ At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. ‘I am at your command,’ Joshua said. ‘What do you want your servant to do?’ Joshua 5:14 (NLT)
* This is the proper response to God – What do you want me to do? But it requires a proper response – Obedience!
* Many of us never ask this question because we get caught up in other things.
‘You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.’ Joshua 6:3-5 (NLT)
“On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the town! Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies.’” Joshua 6:15-17 (NLT)
* Often times we sing at the level of our faith and heart condition.
* A SHOUT is a shout that all can hear, not a loud whisper so we don’t draw attention to ourselves or our God.
PERSONAL INSIGHT #1: WAITING time is not WASTED time.
“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you . . . blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
* God’s delays are not God’s Denials!
PERSONAL INSIGHT #2: It’s not our job to UNDERSTAND the command, but to UNDERTAKE it.
We didn’t sing this song today, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorites! Hope it inspires and encourages you as it does me!
If you missed this weeks message, I encourage you to get it here. While you are there, browse around our new website … we think you will like it and find it to be a great tool in inviting friends to FBC Harvester.
As always, I hope you make plans soon to join us at FBC Harvester next weekend! If distance is a problem, you are always welcome to listen to any of the teachings from our worship service from our website. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us here. We would love the privilege of helping where we can.
Dan Gould 