God’s Calling–Gideon part 4

God’s Calling–Gideon part 4

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Series: Gideon

To grow into who God created us to be we need to see ourselves as he see us.

As we continue to journey with Gideon today in part 4 we come to Judges 6:11-24.  It is here we see the calling of Gideon.   In all of our lives, we all have two types of callings.  The first calling has to do with a general call for us all to follow God and trust him. Then there is often a second calling to do specific tasks or play specific roles for a season.  We see this second calling take place here in Gideon’s life.

As you read the passage take note of how God views  Gideon and how Gideon views himself. It amazes me how in my own life my view of myself is simply not lining up with God’s.  There was a time I was trying to prove my worth as a pastor.  After much pain, God gently reminded me that I have nothing to prove.  I was called not based on who I am, but according to his plans.  Like Gideon, in one way or another, God shared with me, “I will be with you and you will do this.”

 

As God talks to Gideon, he talks about how he see Gideon.  Gideon comes up with  reasons why he can not do the work God has sent him to do.  God responds with how he see Gideon.

 

God sees Gideon as able to accomplish anything because God is with him (Judges 6:12).  God sees Gideon as a mighty warrior (Judges 6:12).  God sees Gideon full of skill and strength (Judges 6:14).  God sees Gideon as able to accomplish what he asks of him because God is sending him (Judges 6:14). God sees Gideon able to accomplish the task because he is with Gideon and said this will take place (judges 6:16).

 

Gideon comes to understand the reality and weight of his situation with God and the impact that his meeting with God has. Because of this, he begins to feel fearful..  God’s answer is “peace, you do not fear.”  Why does he not live in fear? Because God is with him!

 

What if we saw ourselves as God does? What if we listened to the fear and then looked at it in light of who God is.  When we understand who God is and what he has done, we can understand who we are and what we are to do.

 

For followers of Jesus, we are all called to be ambassadors of Jesus.  How this works out for us all will vary slightly.  We do not need some special moment or experience like Gideon had here.

 

For some, they will also experience a second calling that will mesh with the first.  It is usually in connection with their spiritual gifts and skills and passions.  How do we discover this second calling? First, seek to know Jesus and follow his instructions.  Second, listen for the Spirit’s calling.  The second calling is not greater  than first, but will flow out of the first.

 

To grow in who God created us to be, we need to see ourselves as he see us.  Gideon could not take a step into his calling until he started to understand who he was in God.

Experience Grace and Following Jesus voice.

Experience Grace and Following Jesus voice.

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Series Gideon – Part 3

Read Judges 6:5-10

The people of Israel are in great fear. To be honest they have good reason to be fearful. The Midianites and Amalekites and others would come and torment and burn their crops and kill their animals. Israel is demoralized and feel like they have nothing and are nothing. Perhaps you can relate. Perhaps there is a nation that is pressing against your people and taking everything. War is alive in our world. Perhaps you are in circumstances and there seems to be no way out. You feel like there is just nothing you can do or you are at a loss of what to do. Perhaps an enemy is beating down on you in some form in a regular pattern. Like the people of Gideon’s day you are very low because of this.

 

It is at this point Israel cries out to God. God’s response, by the way, is an expression of grace.

 

This may not be you, but Israel at one level has walked themselves into a valley of the shadow of death. They have rejected God and his leading and protection in their life for some time. Yet now they call upon him.

 

His response is nothing short of grace. God’s response is challenging and hard to embrace. Yet, God wants to help and lead them back to wholeness, but they still have to face their choices.

 

God’s response is not “you are a bunch of sinners.”

 

God’s response is:

* This is who I am and what I have done.

* This is who you should be.

 

In verse 8 he begins to remind them of what he has done for them and how he freed them. Then in verse 10 we read, ” I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. ..” In that moment, he reminds them who they are to be. You were not created to live in fear. Your circumstances are not to define who you are but I am. You are to live a life that does not live in fear.

 

If I am being honest I am not totally sure what that life looks like. I get that the nations are ravaging the lands because of the people leaving the protection of God and their sin. But look at what he is saying. Even if the circumstances are bad around you, even if people are looking stronger than you and hurting you, you do not live a life in fear of them.

 

That is going to be hard to live out depending on the depth of brokenness in our life. To walk away from fear and embrace faith is not easy journey. Yet God’s grace is for you and this is what he calls us to.

 

God continues to speak and shares with them the reason they have not entered, engaged and experienced the life they were created for. At the end of verse 10 he shares “you have not obeyed my voice.”

 

When we understand who God is and what he has done, we can know who we are and what we are to do.

The same can be true in our life. Jesus would share the reason we have not entered, or can engage or experience the life we were created for is because we look elsewhere. Everything God wants us to know is found in Jesus. Yet, fear drives us somewhere else.

 

In Matthew 7:24-28 Jesus just finished sharing God’s dream for our life. He lays out principles of the life we were created for. A life that leads us to Jesus and wholeness. Then he shares if you put these into practice–if you listen to him– you are like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. The rain came, the wind blew, but the house did not waver. Notice that even for Jesus followers storms will still come. Jesus says when it does, you will stand. You do not live in fear of the storm.

 

Like the people we read in Judges 6, it starts with fixing our eyes on God. Like the people in Judges 6 God’s grace is for you. Embracing his grace for you, and following his voice leads to living the life you were created for.

 

Reflection Questions:

* Where are you not embracing his grace in your life?

* Where are you hearing Jesus’ voice in your life? What does that change?

Gideon- First step for when sin entangles

Gideon- First step for when sin entangles

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Series: Gideon- Embracing faith leaving fear.

Read Judges 6:1-5

The story of Gideon begins after 40 years of peace followed by 7 years of hardship. One could make an argument that the people worked or walked themselves into this hardship. They took their eyes off of God. Perhaps it was a slow process. They began to look at the peace they had believing it was there by their hand. However, it was God who brought peace to the land. They took their eyes off of God and forgot who they were as a people and as individuals. They took their eyes off God and sin began to ensnare their life.

 

fox_thumb.jpgWe are just the same at times. When we forget God– forget who we are– sins entangles us.

 

The people become lost in a way and chase after everything except God. They look to the mountains to provide their safety and security and they lived in the caves. They were not meant to be hiding in caves and leaving in fear. In a way, so many of us live in our own caves, hiding and living in fear.

 

The people had good reason to live there. There was a security it brought.

 

However,God, in revealing himself to the people, also shared who they were to be. They were not to be a people living in fear. They had forgotten who brought them out of Egypt and provided for them. They had forgotten the one who revealed himself to them and showed them how they should live. God showed them the road to wholeness and it was with him. Yet they rejected him. Sin entangled its way into their life and they were not able to fully embrace the promise land that God promised them.

 

We read these activities and think that could not happen to me. Yet so many followers of Jesus are being choked by the weeds and distractions of life.

 

In the book of Judges we see the cycle of people fixing their eyes on God and following him, then walking away and putting their trust in other things. There were consequences in their life because of that. Now we are not under the Old Covenant. We are under Jesus and what the bible calls the New Covenant. The cycle seen in Judges can be experienced in our life as well. This is not meant to be. We fix our eyes on Jesus and know our need for him only to look to sin and move our eyes off Jesus and become entangled with sin.

 

When the letter of Hebrews was written, in the New Testament, I think the author saw this struggle in the church as well In chapter 10 we read, in light of all that Jesus has done; in light of who God is and all that he has done; we have a new way of living. Then in Chapter 12 the author calls us to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so entangles us and run the race with perseverance. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

 

At the beginning of the story of Gideon (Judges 6:1-5), God is about to call Gideon in order to answer the prayers of God’s people and call his people back to him. It is when they are in a relationship with him wholeness is found. It is in relationships with Jesus that we have wholeness and freedom and security and peace.

 

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:22-23).

 

Perhaps you are caught in such a cycle or find yourself entangled with sin. The first step is to fix your eyes on Jesus; remember who God is. In a way we see this in Judges 6:6 as the people call out to God. They see they are impoverished without God and cry out to him.  They need him in order to live as they were created to be.

 

God is waiting for you.

Gideon – Moving from fear to embracing Jesus

Gideon – Moving from fear to embracing Jesus

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Part 1

Following Jesus involves moving from fear and being lost to embracing Jesus and wholeness.

 

foxFor many followers of Jesus, we wonder if Jesus is really with us. Gideon was no exception. He too wondered, just where is God? I was reading through the book of Judges and came across the story of Gideon. Like Gideon we wonder “is God really leading us?” and “can we trust him?”

 

Yet the scripture shares in Hebrews 12 that Gideon’s faith is one for us to learn from. Gideon’s story is found in the book of Judges, starting in chapter 6. There is much in the story of Gideon that can help us understand ourself and God.

 

As I read and reread the story of Gideon I kept wondering, what is it about his life–his faith–that convinced the author of Hebrews that there is an example for us to follow?

 

When we look at the whole story of Gideon we watch as God moves and calls him from fear to embrace faith. Gideon is constantly asking God to reveal himself again so that Gideon can know that God is with him. In God’s grace, he continues to remind Gideon who he is.

 

God speaks to Gideon, not as Gideon sees himself, but in a fashion of who he was created to be. Gideon is not defined by current circumstances. Gideon looks at his situation and wonders where is God? Fear is a driving force and there is tension in the journey of walking away from fear and embracing faith.

 

There is much we can learn from Gideon, but one overarching storyline is the call to leave fear, to leave the idols and embrace faith in God. The mess the people of Israel find themselves in comes as a result of not listening to God.

 

They failed to listen, they failed to remember who God is and what he has done. Because of this, they are driven to other things outside of God to find security, power, and hope. Fear becomes strong in their life. Yet God watches and waits for them to call out. As they live in their fear and rejection of him, they finally call out and grace is seen.

 

Gideon is taken on a journey of re-discovering who God is and comes to the point of realizing God is sufficient, God is life and he has nowhere else to turn. At that point, the leaving fear and embracing God and his promises, Gideon embarks on entering, engaging and experience the life he was created for.  Yet Gideon is not perfect which is why we can relate to him so much. His story does not even end well. In face he moves back into fear. However, the message is the same for us. Jesus waits for us to call out, and grace is given. He calls us to leave fear and embrace him.

 

Where are you needing to let go of fear and embrace who you are in Jesus?

 

Take time this week to listen to who God says you were created to be.