Judges 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!
Judges 6 begins with an angel talking to Gideon saying, “thou mighty man of valor!” However, in this passage Gideon isn’t feeling very valiant — he’s consumed with his circumstances — how poor his family is and how he’s the least of his fathers’ house. He doesn’t feel he’s done anything worthy of being called valiant, yet the angel still addresses him “mighty man of valor!”
Gideon is not the only one who struggles with feeling unvaliant, though, is he? Even the best of us struggle with feelings of failure and defeat. But we must remember that we are part of the Lord’s army — and in the Lord’s army, we do not depend upon our own strength. We depend upon the power of the Lord! We depend upon the victory that He has already won!
Imagine the countless thousands of saints like Gideon who have passed away before us and now sit in heaven’s glory where every tear is dried, and every wound is healed — who have already fought the battle of life and are calling down to us from heaven saying “Fellow Saint, you can get through this thing! Fight this battle — for we have fought these same battles in our lives and been rewarded with heaven’s glory! So fight through and we’ll see you soon beside us! March forward you mighty man and woman of valor!”
The Lord stands eagerly awaits our call. He wants us to walk in His power, not our own! Let’s give him our circumstances today and strive to rely on His strength to conquer them!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As the world celebrates the end of 2024 and enters into 2025 tonight, it looks toward the conclusion of yet another year. However, God has not been working on his plan according to the Gregorian calendar- rather, according to His own calendar. For example, when Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified and became the Lamb of God slain for the world, it was on the Biblical feast of Passover (Pesach in Hebrew). When He rose again from the dead, His resurrection was on the feast of first fruits. Fifty days later, the Holy Spirit was poured out during the Hebrew Feast of Shavuot or better known as Pentecost. This marked the beginning of the harvest season, and we’ve been in the midst of the great harvest for the past 2000 years. The fall feasts have yet to be fulfilled prophetically, however we as believers are groaning for the world’s redemption!
This parable in Matthew 25 is a warning to the entire body — be ready with your oil! Each of these virgins was anticipating the Lord’s return; none were atheists, or non-believers. They were all virgins who claimed to be awaiting the Bridegroom’s arrival. But notice carefully that only half of them were truly ready.
In the year 1920, young Oswald Smith stood before the examining board for the selection of missionaries. He had wanted to be a missionary for as long as he could remember, and for all that time had been crying out to God that He might open a door for him to do so. Finally, his time had come. There he stood awaiting his destiny. His long-awaited was about to come…”No.”
When God called Gideon to lead Israel against their enemies, He wanted to show that a small army empowered by God was more effective than the largest armies. But notice how they fought – without weapons that an army would normally use. They fought with shofars and lamps! They fought with weapons that the world would consider ineffective, yet triumphed mightily over their enemies. They shouted as loud as they could, sounded the shofar, and broke the vessels that held the fire so that their lamps burst through with brightness.
Let me tell you a funny little story. An old mountaineer and his wife were sitting by the fireplace one evening, passing the time in silence. After a while, the wife broke the stillness and said, “Jed, I think it’s raining. Go outside and check, will ya?”
During his reign, King Frederick William III of Prussia found himself in a bind. Wars had been costly, and in trying to build the nation, he was seriously short of finances. After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia if they would bring their jewelry of gold and silver to be melted down for their country. Each piece of jewelry he received, he would exchange for a decoration of bronze or iron as a symbol of his gratitude. These decorations would be inscribed, ‘I gave gold for iron, 18l3’.
In connection with the Hebrew Word “Amen”, meaning “faith”, “truth”, “belief”, and “trust”, consider this revealing passage in Isaiah which further amplifies the dimensions of the word in the most wonderful and comforting promise:
“He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth [“Amen” in Hebrew]. …