1 Sam 17:23-37

Fear wasn’t his first go-to (because he had integrity).
Proverbs says, “The wicked flee though no one pursues them, but the GODLY are BOLD AS LIONS.”

Being anointed, does not make your success guaranteed.

1 Samuel 17:38-40

1 Samuel 17:41-51

Judges 6:17-39

That fire in my belly is there to let me know I HAVE to do whatever God is asking me to do…but it doesn’t always take the fear away.

Your attitude here, when you’re asking God for proof, shows your heart.  Do you have a heart that is selfish with God, a heart that NEEDS TO KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU KNOW….a heart that NEEDS to be convinced, but also can never be fully convinced no matter how much evidence is provided.

Because the thing is, if you’re waiting for a sign–will you even see it when it comes? If you’re waiting for a sign to be obedient–will you ever be obedient?

If you REALLY had faith, you would just believe and obey without a sign. Faithful people actually look for the signs, after obeying.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 

It is believing in something even when we can’t make “sense” of it. Believing enough to do something about it.

Judges 7:1-22

God used something that Gideon inherently understood–FEAR–to find victory over their oppressors. Fear…the very thing that Gideon probably thought disqualified him.  God used EVEN THAT.

God used Gideon’s anger to call him.  And his fear to fulfill that calling.

Do it afraid!

The end of Gideon’s story isn’t preached much. He resisted leadership and the people revering him for like a millisecond, but eventually, even he fell to it.  Judges 8:27, says, “27 Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold [that they won in battle] and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.”

Judges 6:11-16
11 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. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

13 “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.”

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

15 “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!”

16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”



Threshing wheat was usually done in a large open area, ideally, on top of a tall hill or something like that, so that wind would help the process.  They would have animals trod on the wheat over and over again, to break it down and process it, and the chaff would blow away in the wind, until what was left, was only the useable parts for making food.

Gideon was living in a time where the Israelites were hopelessly oppressed by the Midianites.  The Midianties would come and raid and steal their food, if they saw anyone using the threshing floor, they would have taken it.

Gideon says, my tribe is the weakest, and I am the least in my entire family...but the angel addresses him as MIGHTY HERO!

we can encourage and call qualities out of people that are in there…maybe just buried right now. THAT’s how Jesus used that power. Not to call governments into place, or change leaders, or get rich quick. Or even to build Himself up. He called PEOPLE into greater things. He spoke LIFE.

It’s almost as if God was just waiting for SOMEONE to ask those questions.  THIS is why I say all the time that God isn’t afraid of your anger.  I think sometimes God is just waiting for SOMEONE to get angry!  SOMEONE to care! ANDDD someone to direct their anger to the RIGHT source.  

1. Is our enemy against flesh and blood?  People get the wrath of our anger all the time…but do PEOPLE deserve it? Or are they just deceived and entrapped and enslaved by the same sin and selfishness that we are?
   1. Well, if it’s not people…then the next logical question you might ask is…
2. Is our enemy God? Does God deserve Gideon’s anger? 
   1. No...God didn’t oppress them. God didn’t cause them to be disobedient and unruly, and unfaithful. 
   2. So why does expressing this anger to God help?  (It changes our perspective)

Sometimes, God just needs someone with the bare minimum amount of faith. The faith of a mustard seed.  Just a LITTLE. Just give me what you have…because God is a multiplying God. He doesn’t add, he MULTIPLIES. He takes whatever is in our hand, whatever we’re willing to give, and he multiplies it! 

I am sending YOU. YOU don’t have to be qualified, I AM qualified.

Sometimes it isn’t US that God changes.  God didn’t say that Gideon would become strong enough to handle a whole army.  He also didn’t say that he would only be fighting one man.  But He did say that it would be AS IF he were fighting one man. God didn’t say he would change Gideon.  He didn’t say He would change the enemy.  

The ONLY difference God promises here is perspective.

If HE is with you–who can be against you?
If HE is with you–do you need to be “qualified”?

In my view:
God saw Gideon not as strong, or powerful, or qualified.

God saw Gideon as hard-working, determined, servant-hearted, and just angry enough to fix a problem.

God saw a person He could use. Not a person who had earned a title.
A person he could teach.  Not a person who knew it all.
A person who had the right heart position.  Not someone angry at all the wrong things.

And He called Him to fix it. 

In my view, God calls us to BE someone…way more often than he calls us to DO something.

What is your character like when no one is watching?  
If God came down into your circumstances, would he find you being useful? Serving the people around you, even though it’s hard?  Or would He find you serving only yourself?  Would He find you asking HIM questions, or blaming the world?  
Would He find you preparing yourself for a calling? Or just entertaining yourself to pass the time?

Gideon started, not by defeating the Midiantites.  
He STARTED by tearing down the altars to the idols.

That’s where we start too.

You will never be free from sin, while you still have an altar set up to it.

 

1. Are you satisfied with how you celebrated Easter this year? What could you do next year to make it more meaningful?
2. If you could have supernatural events happen at your death what would you choose to happen?
3. Are there any barriers you have to be on guard against building between you and God?
4. How has Jesus’ resurrection given you a new perspective on your past?
5. What was your biggest takeaway?

Matthew 27:35-54
(Rabbit trail: Psalm 22)

The veil was 65 ft tall…10 feet wide…10 cm thick!
Jesus' sacrifice tore in half, the thing that separated us from the very presence of God!
You stitch up that veil too.

1 Corinthians 15:13-22

Matthew 28:1-10 

Exodus 1 & 2

We fear God and nothing less.

These women, these courageous, AMAZING women saved a NATION.  Because they feared GOD more than they feared man.

Faith isn’t always dramatic and declarative!! Sometimes it’s quiet and consistent.


Matthew 17:20
20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

He showed me that mountain-moving faith often looks like showing up every day with a shovel.
Moving one shovel-full at a time.  Day by day.  Quiet and consistent.

"I pray all the time, every day, God, protect my babies.  And when that little worm of worry wants to borrow its way into my soul, I tell myself these stories.

Jochebed gave up her baby to the Nile, and you protected Moses.
Hannah gave up her baby to the temple, and you protected Samuel.
Mary gave up her baby to the cross, and…

Why do I really think you can’t do it for my babies?"

Faith is active trust.  It’s not just a feeling.  It’s a choice to trust God, or trust your fear.

Here’s the Parenting Takeaway: if we see ourselves of stewards of THINGS…why don’t we see our children this way too? We are to PARTNER with God in raising our children, but ultimately, they are not OURS, they are HIS. They are fellow disciples of Jesus.

Where do I need courage to obey God over culture?

• Certainly PLENTY of ways that culture and the Word do not line up these days!  Culture is not our benchmark.  The WORD OF GOD is our benchmark, always.  

What am I being called to trust God with daily?

• There are a lot of stories still being played out in our church. We have the benefit of seeing Jochebed’s life, and Moses’ all play out..but ours are still ongoing.  Don’t draw conclusions too quickly! God can still turn your story around.  Step out in faith and TRUST HIM.  He can do it!! He CAN change things! Will it be as you hope or as you suspect all the time?  No…probably not.  But it might be even better!

What do I need to release into God’s hands?

You may feel unseen.
 You may feel like your role is small.
 But heaven tells a different story.

Genesis 37:18-20
Joseph was UNOFFENDABLE.

The enemy LOVES to divide a church!  He loves it!  Because a unified church is TERRIFYING to the enemy.  A unified church is POWERFUL, and a praying church is EFFECTIVE!  God moves on behalf of a unified, praying church, so of course the enemy wants us divided and offended at each other. Of course he wants us gossiping, and judging each other.  

The enemy is a mocker. The dreamer…the favorite…the one who’s soooo blessed and highly favored….it’s DRIPPING with jealousy and mockery.

2 Peter 3:3 / Jude 1:18-19
Mockers have no fear of the Lord.  And they use their mocking to justify all kinds of evil behavior.
Psalm 1:1-3
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ENTERTAIN A MOCKER.  You do not have to stand around with sinners.  You hear someone mocking or letting their jealousy show, or gossiping around you, or whatever it is.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ENTERTAIN IT.  You WANT to entertain it.  

JEALOUSY makes you do CRAZY things.  Jealousy is SO destructive.

Start being GRATEFUL for what He HAS given you, and stop focusing on what you DON’T have.  Begin by writing a gratitude list! Gratitude is the antidote to SO MANY spiritual maladies.

Proverbs 27:4 / Proverbs 14:30

Absolutely no man, woman, child, or devil can ever get you out of the will of God, except you.  
No one, but you, can knock you off course.
Bitterness clouds everything.  It’s like a shade put over your eyes, once you let bitterness in, it taints everything you see.
Genesis 45:5-8
Genesis 50:19-21
YOUR attitude, YOUR faith level, YOUR level of offense with God (or His people)  is the only thing that can get you out of the will of God.
Psalm 37:23 / Proverbs 16:9
Offended people = it’s all about ME. How badly I’ve been treated…how tough I’ve had it.
They can’t see the preparation of God in it.
1 Peter 1:6-7
Isaiah 48:10
From John Bevere: “Often the thing that looks like an abortion of God’s plan actually ends up being the road to its fulfillment…if we stay in OBEDIENCE and FREE FROM OFFENSE.”

Search your heart. Repent of offense, jealousy, mockery, bitterness.

• Genesis 10 is an ethnographic (scientific description of peoples and cultures with their customs, habits, and mutual differences)…70 peoples. The bible is still focused on ALL of humanity at this point.  Genesis 10 is a genealogy of people who become the ancestors of key players throughout the Bible.
• Genesis 11 is about humanity unifying under their own power again…and the scattering of nations
• Genesis 12 is where the Bible shifts it’s focus, to one family. (our family!)

Genesis 11 // The Tower of Babel
11 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 Babylonia and 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.

God told humanity to “fill the earth” by starting families, but instead they chose to all stay together in cities, and “fill the earth with violence.”  Repeating the same cycle, all over again.

We rely on OURSELVES far too much, and on GOD far too little.

“Babylon represents an alternate humanity, whose “head” is in the skies, as well as a false Eden. This is humanity’s attempt to deify its own cultural heritage and homogenize humanity and make everything “one.” - article linked at the bottom

Babylon is mentioned by name six times in the Book of Revelation (14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:2, 18:10, 18:21). In chapters 14–18, where the city serves as a symbol for a wicked, end-times world system and a center of idolatry that falls just before the Second Coming of Christ.  So when we know what Babylon actually was in the beginning, we have a much better idea of what it will be (or already is becoming!) in the end times before Jesus comes back.  


Romans 13 // Respect for Authority
13 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

Rebellion is useless.

Isaiah 55:11 says, It is the same with my word.
    I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
    and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Pride is dangerous.

Moving through life as if there are no limits, is CONFUSING. We need limits!

We're all doomed without Jesus.  We NEED Jesus!

1. The age
2. The ark
3. The promise

THE AGE // What we do know:

1. God was willing to be involved in their lives.
2. There was heavy rebellion against Him. 

(Not that much unlike today!)

Genesis 6:1-8 
Matthew 24:35-39
Genesis 6:9-13
2 Peter 2:5
Genesis 6:14-22
Genesis 7:1

THE ARK // What we do know:

1. It was MEANT TO BE BIG!
2. It didn’t have any steering capabilities.
3. The door had to be shut by God.
4. It was the object of their salvation.

Hebrews 11:7
Genesis 7:1-24
Genesis 8:1-14
Genesis 9

THE PROMISE // What we do know:

1. The promise was for Noah
2. But also for us!
3. It came with later covenants
4. Because God always makes a way back to Him.

Major Biblical Covenants:

• (LIFELONG) Circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant. God had given children, and those children gave a sign back, circumcising their children. God also gave new identity, with name changes! 
• (WEEKLY) The sabbath was a Mosaic (Moses!) covenant…a weekly sign that Israel was still IN for their end of the bargain. They made a lot more agreements than just that, but that one is notable!
• The Davidic covenant was next.  It was a do-over of sorts with Israel.  They were already forgetting their Mosaic promises, in the promised land, David wanted to build a temple, and God allowed it, promising to make David’s name great and raise up a descendant from his line, whose throne and kingdom would last forever. The savior was coming! When they made a mess of the temple and all that it was SUPPOSED to mean, JESUS CAME to fix it.
• (DAILY) The NEW covenant, the JESUS covenant.  We have baptism for repentance, and we have the Lord’s Supper, communion.  Which is meant to be when we feed ourselves! We bow our heads and pray over our food, and remember what Jesus has done for us! 

Faithfulness, in an age of wickedness.  (the age, same as ours!)
Steadfast trust in God, in the face of the impossible. (the ark, but it's Jesus today!)
Hope through judgement and in eternity. (the promise, we have the same today.)

Genesis 4:1-16

Kent Hovind quote: “There’s only 2 religions in the whole world, that’s Cain & Abel.  Cain brought his fruit & vegetables.  God, look what I did for you, God wouldn’t take it.  Abel brought a sacrifice.”  

Cain thought the more you do, the more God is pleased.  
Abel knew he could never please God, I’m unworthy.

John 4:23-24, “...true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

God wasn’t rejecting CAIN forever.  It says, “God rejected Cain and His gift” but God is a GOOD FATHER…And He comes back around to Cain to have a conversation…”You WILL be accepted if you do what is right”...I’m not rejecting YOU…just this heart that you seem to have adopted that isn’t right!  Do what is right! Repent and do what is asked of you.  This rebelliousness within us…

CAPTURE rebellious thoughts and teach them to OBEY Christ!  DESTROY proud obstacles!
2 Cor 10

Kim’s text: 
I realized the real problem wasn't that Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice.  God told him he'd be ACCEPTED TOO if he'd do what was right.  "Come back and do it again."   

God didn't reject Cain.  He was giving Cain a do-over.  He even warned Cain that NOT choosing to do the do-over (ie. Repent and try it God's way) would lead to even worse consequences than these bad feelings.  And God ENCOURAGED Cain that he could overcome that potential sin and conquer it by refusing that  path. 

The SIN was that Cain didn't choose the do-over. He chose to refuse to try again. He didn't repent and make an offering that  he knew was "right". He didn't believe that God would (or ever could) accept HIM, nor that he'd ever be able to make a better offering.  He chose to sit in those feelings and fester and be jealous and hate his brother instead ... because Able chose to do what is right. 

And this story isn't an example that God rejects some and accepts others.  It's a WARNING to US that we all are faced with the choice of accepting God's offer of the "do-over" ... or not.  

It's telling us that WE ALL CAN BE ACCEPTED BY GOD if we choose to have faith in and believe in God's mercy and goodness and forgiveness... by just choosing "the do-over option."  To just repent of our error (less than best choice) and instead choose to do what God is telling us now. 

There's plenty of room at God's table for us all. And God's true heart desire is that we ALL are there.

Gen 4:1-7;  1 John 3:12;  1 John 2:1-2; Heb. 11:4"


1. Heart attitude matters.
2. His grace is sufficient!
3. We need Jesus.

Genesis 3:1-21

Selfishness convinces us that we’re missing out.  That God is withholding something from us...when the reality is God WANTS to withhold something from you.  For Adam & Eve, and all of humanity, he WANTED to withhold the knowledge of EVIL from us! He didn’t want us to know the difference between good and evil.  

John 10:10 says that the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but JESUS has come that we may have life, and have it to the FULL!

“Discernment isn’t knowing the difference between right and wrong.  Discernment is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” -Charles Spurgeon

SPIRITUAL MATURITY IS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY. 

Chris Hodges says, “you’re only as sick as your secrets.”


Holiness is not only given, it is chosen. It starts with your thoughts actually.  Philippians 4:8. “Think about whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Grace is being given what you don’t deserve.
Mercy is NOT being given what you DO deserve.

He’s calling you out of hiding today.

Matthew 4:1-11

Poem by Jonathan Girma
used with permission

When I asked if you believed in God,
What I meant was,
Who does your mind run to when it races?
Who carries the weight of your unspoken questions or desires? 

I wasn't asking if you know any of the Bible, 
I was asking if the Bible knows you. 
(The one on your nightstand) 
Does it recognize the texture of your skin?
Does it have pages that have bent and stretched under your tears?
Has it’s spine cracked while it contorted to feed you?

I wasn't asking if you think abortion is wrong, 
or caring for the poor is important, 
or if you think prayer works. 
I was asking if your pockets know the emptying that comes with generosity. 

If your face knows tears that were shed on someone else's behalf, 
the ones that get pulled down by gravity in single file with no space or time to dry.
With all due respect…
I know you’re used to saying what you believe,
But what moves you?

What melodies cause you to sing before you are aware enough to stop yourself?
What music gets your feet tapping?
Where do you end up when you sleepwalk?
When your instincts take you before the rational mind gets involved. 

What do you know of peace, or joy? 
Is it just your mind that knows it? 
Has joy found its way to your smile before? 
Does she ever make you dance?

Has peace kissed your forehead? 
or showed up in your nervous system? 

Sometimes I wonder if the actors are better off. 
At least they know the difference between reading lines and getting into character. 
They know the script doesn't come alive when your mind knows what to say, 
but when your body wears the story, 
and the audience can smell it. 

What character do you smell like?
What script do you bring to life?
When I asked if you believed in God, 
What I meant was, what God do you know? 
and how much of you knows Him? 

Have your beliefs remained thoughts, 
ideas that float in the air, 
or have they clothed you? 
Have they found a living home in your body? 

Does your God live in your head or does he ever occupy your hands or feet? 
Do your mind and body belong to the same belief system?

When I asked if you believed in God,
What I meant was,
What god do you know?
And how much of you knows him?

Hosea 12:3-4:
“Even in the womb,
    Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
    he even fought with God.
4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
    He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.

Genesis 32:24-28
24 This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. 25 When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

Genesis 28:12-22 
12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

Genesis 32:6-8 
“After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!” 7 Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups. 8 He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”


He’s making decisions out of an incorrect identity. Incorrect identity breeds fear.

Correct identity [God’s identity] gives life.

Jacob’s enemy wasn’t his brother. It was NEVER his brother. Not back when they were kids & Esau was just hungry, not when he was adult & Esau was busy hunting, not when he was in the womb & Esau got BORN first.....Esau was never the enemy!

Jacob’s enemy was himself.

Justification is God declaring us righteous based on Christ’s righteousness. It’s forensic—like a legal verdict. It’s instant and complete the moment we believe. We are RIGHT with God, because He says so. Jacob didn’t grasp that the first time he met with God.  

Sanctification is God making us righteous through the Holy Spirit. It’s progressive—over our lifetime. Justification changes our position before God. Sanctification changes our practice. Justification is once-for-all. Sanctification is ongoing.

Genesis 33:18-20
18 Later, having traveled all the way from Paddan-aram, Jacob arrived safely at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan. There he set up camp outside the town. 19 Jacob bought the plot of land where he camped from the family of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. 20 And there he built an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel. 

El-Elohe-Israel means: God, the God of Israel

God had finally become HIS God.  And GOD’S IDENTITY FOR HIM, had finally become his own as well.


THE CROSS is our monument. Jesus erected that monument out of our pain, and sin, and failures, and deceptions, and fear and struggles…and he built something BEAUTIFUL.  Something to remind us just how BIG and graceful our God is. He gave us a new name.