Latest / KCMS Spirit 105.3 / The Bible For Busy People - Gideon - Called and Sent - Judges 6-7

Transcript

The Bible For Busy People - Gideon - Called and Sent - Judges 6-7 · KCMS Spirit 105.3

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  Speaker 1: Purposely. Your life. God's purpose. Listen at Purposely.com.
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  Speaker 2: Hey friend, welcome back to the Bible for Busy People podcast.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Jen. What's your favorite underdog story? A lot of
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  Speaker 2: them seem to be sports related. My husband and I
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  Speaker 2: recently rewatched Rudy, the story of a kid from Illinois
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  Speaker 2: who dreamed of playing football for Notre Dame. Played by
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  Speaker 2: Sean Astin, Rudy ran into wall after wall. He worked
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  Speaker 2: at a steel mill after high school. Then he couldn't
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  Speaker 2: get into Notre Dame due to his academic status. He
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  Speaker 2: worked hard for two years in a local college to
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  Speaker 2: get the grades to transfer to Notre Dame, finally getting
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  Speaker 2: accepted in his very last opportunity. He just barely made
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  Speaker 2: it on the team due to his own persistence and
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  Speaker 2: then only was able to play for a short time
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  Speaker 2: in one single game. You can see throughout the movie
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  Speaker 2: all the people who are touched by his determination and commitment. Memorably,
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  Speaker 2: the whole stadium chants, Rudy, Rudy, to convince the coach
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  Speaker 2: to let him play. Also, one of my all-time favorite
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  Speaker 2: lines in this movie is when Father Kavanaugh, played by
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  Speaker 2: Robert Prosky, says, Son, in 35 years of religious studies,
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  Speaker 2: I've come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts. There
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  Speaker 2: is a God, and I'm not him. By the way,
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  Speaker 2: God loves a good underdog story, too. We're reading in
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  Speaker 2: Judges 6 today. At the beginning of the chapter, you
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  Speaker 2: can read that the Israelites did evil in the eyes
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  Speaker 2: of the Lord. So God handed them over to the
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  Speaker 2: Midianites who destroyed crops, livestock, and the land. The Israelites
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  Speaker 2: had to resort to daily tasks in secret and in hiding.
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  Speaker 2: And I can't help but think that after blatant sin,
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  Speaker 2: this brought them face to face with reality and regret.
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  Speaker 2: They cried out to God for help. And as is
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  Speaker 2: the pattern in the book of Judges, God had compassion
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  Speaker 2: and responded with a rescue plan. led by somebody unexpected.
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  Speaker 2: We're reading in Judges 6, starting in verse 11. It says,'
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  Speaker 2: Pardon me, my lord,' Gideon replied.' But if the Lord
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  Speaker 2: is with us, why has all this happened to us?
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  Speaker 2: Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us
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  Speaker 2: about when they said,' Did not the Lord bring us
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  Speaker 2: up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned
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  Speaker 2: us and given us into the hand of Midian.' The
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  Speaker 2: Lord turned to him and said,' Go in the strength
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  Speaker 2: you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am
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  Speaker 2: I not sending you?'' Pardon me, my lord,' Gideon replied.'
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  Speaker 2: But how can I save Israel? My clan is the
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  Speaker 2: weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.'
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  Speaker 2: The Lord answered, I will be with you and you
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  Speaker 2: will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive. Let's
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  Speaker 2: stop there. The angel greeted Gideon by calling him mighty warrior.
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  Speaker 2: And I love this point that Mark Nellison makes on
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  Speaker 2: the Center for Excellence in Preaching website. He says, when
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  Speaker 2: someone loves or cares for you, they tend to see
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  Speaker 2: you either as you really are or as the person
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  Speaker 2: you are becoming. For most of us, that kind of
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  Speaker 2: vision is inaccessible. We need another to guide us into
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  Speaker 2: that way of seeing ourselves. The living God has a
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  Speaker 2: way of helping us reframe how we see ourselves. God
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  Speaker 2: was calling Gideon out and up. Something that stands out
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  Speaker 2: to me here is that Gideon didn't seem to recognize
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  Speaker 2: the angel for who he really was. Was he just
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  Speaker 2: worn out by the situation and didn't think to look
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  Speaker 2: for God? Was he skeptical because of the circumstances or bitter?
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  Speaker 2: How about you? When life wears you down, is it
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  Speaker 2: harder to hear God or to see what God is
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  Speaker 2: doing in your situation? That's understandable, and I relate. In
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  Speaker 2: those moments, I draw from spiritual practices that help me
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  Speaker 2: drown out the noise and connect with God. Some of
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  Speaker 2: the ones that help are breath prayers. My friend Kayla
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  Speaker 2: Craig recently released a book of breath prayers and devotionals
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  Speaker 2: that I will include in the show notes if it
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  Speaker 2: would be helpful. Also, taking walks in nature, sitting in
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  Speaker 2: stillness and contemplation with God, or listening to worshipful music.
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  Speaker 2: What helps you connect with God in those moments? And
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  Speaker 2: then the angel says, go in the strength you have.
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  Speaker 2: But Gideon didn't seem to have any strength. He argued
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  Speaker 2: that he was the least in his family in the
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  Speaker 2: weakest clan. And that was exactly why God chose him,
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  Speaker 2: so that God was the one who would be glorified
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  Speaker 2: in what was about to happen, the defeat of the
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  Speaker 2: oppressive Midianites. Notice Gideon's question and God's response. How can I,
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  Speaker 2: from Gideon, and I will be with you from God.
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  Speaker 2: Very similar to Moses. And being called to do something
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  Speaker 2: that takes faith, it's never about us or our resumes
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  Speaker 2: or strengths or gifts. It's all about God. Everything Gideon
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  Speaker 2: lacked was an opportunity for God to show up in
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  Speaker 2: a big way. And everything we lack makes us strong
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  Speaker 2: because it's open space for God to powerfully fill. Now
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  Speaker 2: Gideon asked for a sign and God obliged. Gideon lays
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  Speaker 2: out an offering and God burns it up with fire.
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  Speaker 2: God engages with us. Even in our questions and doubts,
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  Speaker 2: God even waited for Gideon to do what he had
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  Speaker 2: to do. God is remarkably patient with us. And I
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  Speaker 2: encourage you to go back and read it because we
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  Speaker 2: don't quite have time today. And let's not forget the
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  Speaker 2: Israelites were going through a time when their food was
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  Speaker 2: being destroyed. It was a sacrifice for Gideon to prepare
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  Speaker 2: an offering. He went out on faith. It took faith
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  Speaker 2: for him to engage with God too. God responded to
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  Speaker 2: Gideon's offering with fire, to which Gideon responded with alarm
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  Speaker 2: for actually meeting God, realizing he was who he claimed
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  Speaker 2: to be. God reassured him, and Gideon gave him the name,
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  Speaker 2: The Lord is Peace. Like we talked about before on
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  Speaker 2: the podcast, to give God a name is like claiming
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  Speaker 2: God as your own. It's an act of faith and trust.
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  Speaker 2: It was identifying God and calling out God's attributes. This
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  Speaker 2: felt like not just an identifier for God, but a
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  Speaker 2: promise of what was to come. Now you can go
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  Speaker 2: back and read again, but next God told Gideon to
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  Speaker 2: stir up his community by destroying the instruments of worship
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  Speaker 2: for false gods in Jerusalem. Then Gideon asked for another
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  Speaker 2: sign for the next thing he was called to do
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  Speaker 2: to save Israel from Midian. God again responded patiently. Then
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  Speaker 2: in Judges 7, God took a situation that was already dire,
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  Speaker 2: that's 32,000 Israelites against 135,000 Midianites, according to the Enduring
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  Speaker 2: Word commentary, and then made it even more so, allowing
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  Speaker 2: those who were afraid to go back home, which was 22,000 people,
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  Speaker 2: and then bringing the number of soldiers down to just 300.
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  Speaker 2: They were outnumbered 400 to 1. So if you feel
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  Speaker 2: like you're already down and God seems to be taking
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  Speaker 2: even more away, keep your eyes open to how God
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  Speaker 2: is ramping it up to intervene for you. Later, as
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  Speaker 2: you can read in Judges 7, God caused fear and
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  Speaker 2: confusion in the Midianite camp, making them turn on each
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  Speaker 2: other and then flee. This is a crazy story full
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  Speaker 2: of God showing up powerfully with the underdogs and the unexpected.
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  Speaker 2: However low or incapable you may feel, however much you
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  Speaker 2: are wrestling with questions and doubts, know that God can
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  Speaker 2: and will show up patiently and powerfully right where you are.
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  Speaker 2: What's one wild and crazy prayer that you can start
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  Speaker 2: praying or continue to pray about today? I'll leave you
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  Speaker 2: with that. Let's talk again tomorrow.
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