When You Are Weak

By: Carrie Hammye                 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Galatians 5:22

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

It’s 6th hour and I have three classes left to teach. The kids are restless today, and I feel tired. I signal my friendly co-worker and slip out to the restroom. Down the long, empty, mid-class hallway, I breathe deeply…and I lean in. I pray softly under my breath. As I head back, I say each of the fruits of the Spirit in a barely audible voice. I ask the Lord to bring forth from me each of those good fruits. 

The quiet hall becomes my sanctuary, and my heart begins to rest. It’s a three-minute bathroom break, but it’s also a time to keep me from breaking. 

Tired will get you if you aren’t careful. That rude comment, the disdainful look, or the offhand comment could become the rest of the day. Or you can reach within to find what God already placed there - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control. 

The Bible speaks of rivers of living water flowing out of your belly (Jn. 7:38).  It reminds us that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us (Romans 8:11). With such power at work, we are no longer victims of circumstance and mood, we are overcomers. 

Maybe it’s time to fight for your Holy Spirit fruit, even on a bathroom break!

1. Is there a moment in your day that is unmonitored or fairly private where you can take a breath and pray?

2. What can you do to remind yourself to use this moment to pray the fruits of the spirit (a small rock in your pocket, a little note on your hand…)

3. Is there someone who could check with you at the end of the week and see if you are following through on your intention? 

                        

GIDEON: When God Calls the Weak

 

When God Calls the Weak

Gideon is not the kind of person we would naturally put on the list of people God might use.

When we meet him in Judges 6, Israel is being oppressed by the Midianites. The Israelites have been pushed into hiding, their crops are being destroyed, and fear has become a way of life.

And where do we find Gideon?

Hiding.

He is threshing wheat in a winepress, trying to keep his harvest hidden from the Midianites.

Then the angel of the Lord appears and says something almost absurd:

“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
—Judges 6:12

Mighty warrior? Gideon doesn't exactly look like one.

His response makes that clear. He questions God. He points out Israel's suffering. He asks why God has allowed all of this to happen. And when God tells him to go and save Israel, Gideon essentially says, Who, me?

“My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (Judges 6:15)

In other words: You've got the wrong guy. But God didn't.

God Sees What We Cannot Yet See

One of the things I love about Gideon's story is that God calls him a mighty warrior before Gideon feels like one.

Gideon sees his limitations. God sees his calling.

Gideon sees his family. God sees his future.

Gideon sees the size of the enemy. God sees what He is about to accomplish.

And perhaps that is something we need to remember.

We often assume God calls people because they are already confident, capable, experienced, or impressive. But Scripture repeatedly shows us something different. Moses had excuses. David was the youngest. Jeremiah thought he was too young. Peter was impulsive. Paul had a complicated past. And Gideon was hiding in a winepress.

God has never required perfect confidence before He begins using someone.

God Doesn't Just Use Our Strength

Gideon's story gets even more uncomfortable.

Eventually Gideon gathers an army of 32,000 men. That sounds like a reasonable place to start when you're facing an enormous enemy army. But God says there are too many.

Too many?

God tells Gideon to send home everyone who is afraid. Twenty-two thousand leave. Ten thousand remain.

Still too many.

Eventually, Gideon is left with only 300 men. Three hundred against an army described as being as numerous as locusts. Why would God do that? Because God wanted Israel to understand that the victory belonged to Him.

Sometimes God reduces what we have so that we can see more clearly who we have.

We tend to think our effectiveness depends on having more:

More resources.

More talent.

More people.

More money.

More experience.

More confidence.

But God sometimes works through our inadequacy precisely because our inadequacy forces us to depend upon Him. That doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare, grow, learn, or become excellent at what God has called us to do. It means we don't confuse our preparation with our source. Our strength is useful. But God is the source.

Gideon Still Had Questions

Another thing I appreciate about Gideon is that his faith wasn't perfect. He asked for signs. He questioned. He needed reassurance. And God patiently met him there. That doesn't mean doubt is the goal. Gideon's story doesn't encourage us to remain perpetually hesitant.

But it does remind us that God is not intimidated by our questions. Sometimes we imagine that faith means never being afraid. Gideon's story suggests something different. Faith isn't the absence of fear.

Faith is obedience in the presence of fear.

Gideon was afraid—and he went anyway. He didn't suddenly become fearless. He simply discovered that God's presence was greater than his fear.

What If You're the Person Hiding in the Winepress?

Maybe you don't feel particularly brave right now. Maybe you're looking at what God has placed in front of you and thinking, Surely He doesn't mean me. Maybe you see everything you lack.

Maybe you're comparing yourself with people who seem more gifted, more experienced, more confident, or more qualified.

Maybe you're waiting until you feel ready. Gideon's story gives us a different invitation.

You don't have to feel like a mighty warrior before you obey God.

You just have to be willing to take the next step. God didn't ask Gideon to win the entire battle in one moment. He asked him to tear down an altar.

Then gather an army.

Then reduce the army.

Then go into battle.

One obedient step at a time.

Sometimes that's what faith looks like. Not knowing exactly how everything will work out. Not having every answer. Not feeling particularly courageous.

Just saying, “God, if You are with me, I'll take the next step.”

And sometimes, somewhere between the winepress and the battlefield, we discover that God was right all along. Maybe we aren't as weak as we thought. Or perhaps more accurately—

we were never supposed to be strong enough on our own.

Reflection

Where are you currently feeling inadequate, afraid, or unqualified? What would it look like to trust that God can work through that weakness and take the next obedient step anyway?

ACTS Prayer Model: Adoration

By: Jenifer Metzger

Over the next four weeks we are going to look at the ACTS Prayer Model. Please join me each Wednesday as we learn how to pray the ACTS way.

Have you ever sat down to pray and just didn't know what to say? Friend, you are not alone.

Prayer is vital to the Christian life. We can't call ourselves a Christian if we are not talking with God. But sometimes we just don't know what to pray. That is where ACTS comes in!

The ACTS Prayer Model consists of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Today we are going to take a look at adoration.

When praying the ACTS way, we start off with adoration. The dictionary defines adoration as a deep love, respect, worship, and veneration (reverence). We can demonstrate our deep love, respect, worship, and veneration for God through prayer.

For the Lord is good, and His

faithful love endures forever; His

faithfulness, through all generations.

Psalm 100:5 CSB

No matter what we are facing, what we are feeling in the moment, what we are waiting on God to answer, or what we feel God has withheld from us, God is worthy of praise. He is worthy of worship. Psalm 100:5 tells us that the Lord is good and His faithful love endures. That alone is reason enough to begin our prayer with adoration!

So how do we pray with adoration? We simply worship God. We tell God how good He is. We tell God that He is all-powerful, just, merciful, kind, gracious, loving; that He is the King of Kings, Jehovah Jireh, the Alpha and Omega. By telling God these truths from His Word about His character, we are first showing Him that we recognize Who He is. Second, it shifts the focus of our prayer from selfish desires to worship.

Not to us, Lord, not to us,

but to Your name give glory

because of Your faithful love,

because of Your truth.

Psalm 115:1 CSB

Adoration was even modeled in the Lord's Prayer. When Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray, He told them to begin with, "Your name be honored as holy." He taught them to pray this way because adoration for God is important. It's about worshiping our Creator, our Father, our Redeemer.

Therefore, you should pray like

this: Our Father in heaven,

Your name be honored as holy.

Matthew 6:9 CSB

Adoration may feel odd the first time you do it, but keep at it. God loves hearing our prayers and loves when we adore or worship Him. Before long it will feel natural to begin your prayer with adoration and it will transform your prayer life.

Discussion:

1. Have you ever used the ACTS prayer model?
2. Do you struggle with adoration in your prayer or does it come naturally to you?

The Invitation

 By: Joanne Viola

The doorbell rang and I opened the door to find a salesman. He so politely talked to me about the age our roof, windows, and siding. None of these were in need of replacement but I let him go through his spiel.

When he was done, he asked if he could provide an estimate for each of these things. I replied, “Sure, just leave it in our mailbox.”

It was then he replied they don’t operate in this manner. “What time can we return tomorrow to come inside and go over it all?”

The question was asked in a pushy sort of way and it was then I knew I was done with the interaction. Politely, I told him I was all set and closed the door.

It was something about the man’s pushiness which stirred my thoughts. It brought to mind how different our Lord is in the way He approaches us.

Jesus stands at the doors of each of our hearts, knocking and waiting to be invited into our lives.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; 
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
 I will come in to him and will dine with him, 
and he with Me.” 
(Revelation 3:20, NASB) 

John wrote these words of Christ to the Laodiceans, who were a wealthy church but lukewarm in their relationship with Christ. They had become self-sufficient, depending on their abilities and resources to take care of themselves.

But God loved them too much to leave them in their complacency. He rebuked and called to them, and waited for an invitation to enter.

At a closer look, it really is an invitation extended to us. It is a call for us to enter into a relationship with Jesus. He is inviting us to come closer.

Jesus is not pushy, not a slick salesman with a pitch. He is gentle, compassionate, longing for us, wanting to hear our voice.

Jesus longs to be with us. If we but open the door to our hearts, minds, and lives, Jesus will dwell with us.

The pushiness of the salesman that day only served to contrast him with the goodness, mercy and invitation Jesus extends to us each day.

Yes, this is an invitation to salvation,
but it is a daily call to live
with devotion to Christ.

 

Reflection:
What is the invitation Jesus is extending to you today?

 

Image by Trang Le from Pixabay

 

 

The Voice of Authority (Big, Scary Dog)

 By: Carrie Hammye

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?...37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Ro. 8:35&37 

I have a medium sized cupcake of a dog, a chubby Goldendoodle with absurdly curly hair; her name is Brisket. She is the most submissive of dogs and simply sits quietly when another dog runs up on her. Confused, the other dog typically sniffs her, wags its tail, and leaves. 

A few weeks ago, this scenario went off the rails when a Rottweiler came thundering across a lawn, hackles up, and scared Tim, me, and even Brisket. Thankfully the neighbor barked an authoritative order and the dog left. 

Tonight I was walking past the same house, lost in thought. It had been a hard day. My eye started twitching again a few days ago and I had been struggling to speak without long pauses (Traumatic Brain Injuries can cause problems for a long time). Frustration and fear filled me as I wondered if this was merely a setback or something worse. Add to this the washer unbalancing and leaving me with a load of sopping towels, my husband getting called back into work over a minor squabble, and it being too too hot…well, you get the picture. 

The walk was meant to get me back into order and settle my mind. I had begun to get up and over it, praying, reminding myself that setbacks are temporary, and generally talking it over with Jesus when…bam, here comes that dang dog. 

One minute I was standing there stunned, and in the next moment, a voice I hardly knew thundered out of me! I barked an order, “Go home! You get back. Get home right now!” That big, scary dog, well, he stopped in his tracks, tucked his little tail into his hindquarters, and skulked back into his yard. My chubby clearance dog and I walked authoritatively on, and he stayed put in his own yard. 

My brain clicked in, ‘That’s it!’ I thought. ‘I have the voice of authority!’

I immediately used my deep you-better-obey-me voice and told the devil to quit messing with me and my family. I said it in the name of Jesus, in the clear knowledge that I was (and I am) authorized to speak in Jesus’ name and walk in his authority. I felt a sense of power and peace roll right through me. 

The Bible is pretty clear about the power and protection that is ours in Christ. Remember that “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”  (1 John 3:8b) The Bible makes it clear that “no weapon formed against us shall prosper” (Is. 54:17) and “we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16b) The scripture says you are “more than a conqueror” because he loves you! (Ro. 8:37) We are assured that “NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro. 8:37)

The devil looks like that huge, angry Rottweiler, but he is a liar - he is no match for our King - King Jesus. 

What “dog” is barking you into a corner, friend? Isn’t it time to use the voice God gave you to tell it to leave you alone? That dog is all bark and no bite when you stand firm and refuse to cower. The voice of authority is yours in Jesus Christ!

1. Consider areas you might be believing in the scary future, rather than God’s saving power.

2. Confess the way you are feeling and ask for God’s help. 

3. Speak and demand the Enemy leave you alone - do it in the name of Jesus and in the sure knowledge of his authority. 

4. Watch the devil flee!