Judges 7:9-16 We live amid a noisy world where we are constantly barraged by messages from our culture. Many, if not most, of those messages are not what God would want to say to us. In our text today, Gideon seems scared. Even the description of the enemy has an ominous tone. Verse 12 suggests […]

Judges 7:1-8 Within four verses, the size of Gideon’s army goes from 32,000 to 300. Scripture doesn’t tell us Gideon’s reaction to God telling him that he has too many men, but I imagine one of shock and surprise. Soldiers are a key commodity and resource when it comes to military success. Every church wishes […]

2 Timothy 1:1-10 Young Timothy is pastoring a broken church struggling to thrive, while nearby false apostles are offering a glitzier gospel telling people all they want to hear. Timothy only has the mundane and messy incarnational gospel which means hard work in the real world. So Paul encourages Timothy to stir up the low […]

Acts 20:19-28 Have you ever served the Lord through severe testing with tears and humility? This is the triumph of faithfulness. As Paul looks back over his life, he recounts his aim of following Jesus in service to God’s mission, obeying the leading of the Spirit. The Spirit guided him, like so many of us, […]

John 14:22-31 As Jesus says farewell to His disciples, He’s fully aware of the challenges they will face as they continue without Him. So Jesus takes the opportunity here, before His arrest, death, and ascension, to remind them of the resources available to them as they proceed. As His body on earth, they are to […]

Judges 6:30-40 The enemies of Israel band together creating a threatening force. God’s response is to clothe Gideon with the Spirit of the Lord. God will make good on the promise to be with Gideon, making him a mighty warrior. The coming of the Lord’s Spirit upon Gideon doesn’t override his consciousness. The Spirit’s power […]

Judges 6:23-29 The source of Israel’s plight is their drift towards the worship of the Canaanite gods Baal and Asherah. Israel needs to trust only the Lord. So Gideon is called to lead the removal and replacement of these idols that their worship and trust may be rightly directed. Gideon knows what the Lord desires […]

Judges 6:13-22 Hesitant Gideon hears the Lord’s call and balks at being God’s choice. Being from the weakest clan and the least of the family, he is obviously disqualified. Someone with better resources and competence should be chosen. Gideon also protests the promise that God is currently nearby. Doubtful of himself, Gideon is also curiously […]

Hebrews 11:31-40 It’s one thing to want God to act, to do something, to see human misery and chart a way out. It’s another thing to allow oneself to be summoned to the unanticipated plan God assembles. The people have cried out to God to come and deliver Israel in the midst of their misery […]

Hebrews 11:31-40 Hebrews 11 is a string of examples of heroes of faith. These are people who obeyed the Lord in spite of things seeming illogical or even dangerous. Faith is confidence in our hope and assurance in the unseen (v. 1). In other words, faith is the willingness to trust a bigger picture than […]