GO IN THIS THY MIGHT

GO IN THIS THY MIGHT

In Judges 6:1-40, The midianites had invaded Isreal and camped up like swarms of locusts. This happened because they sinned, the Isrealites did whatever they liked and the things of the world enticed them. They will fall out and disobey God and when things get tough, they come back to seek the face of God. The Isrealites were greatly impoverished because the Midianites would invade the land whenever they planted their crops.

 Midianites are descendants of Abraham from the second wife he took after Sarah died, but were cut off and Isreal separated from them. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites and an angel was there and later appeared to Gideon. 

In verse 11, shows that there are times angels come around but do not appear to us, this does not mean that God is not with us.

God was going to use Gideon to deliver Isreal. In verse 12, the angel told Gideon “the Lord is with you, mighty warrior”. What makes a man mighty is because the Lord is with him. We should always crave the presence of God in our life. In verse 13, Gideon complained because Gideon’s understanding is that God forsook them and handed them over to the children of Midianites but it was infact the other way round, the Isrealites had forsaken God. Gideon asked so many questions but got no direct answer, this is just like when christians ask God questions. God does not deem it necessary to answer the questions before taking us to the next level in life. When Nebuchadnezzar asked questions, God drove him into the wilderness for seven years and his experience in the wilderness taught him the answer to the questions he asked. Many times christians ask questions and expect immediate answers, but it is not so with God. In verse 14, God told Gideon to “Go in this thy might” and he will go with him. God will not go with us to places he has not sent us. The things we pursue are based on whose directions, when God sends us he backs us up. When God sends us, he will back it up with his grace and resources, so every christian must wait to hear God’s direction before acting. Gideon was from the smallest tribe in Manasseh, a least tribe in Isreal but his source of strength was from God’s presence with him. The enemy always tries to make us do evil deeds just to drive away the presence of God from our lives. Gideon had to take ten of his servants to perform God’s instructions of first pulling down the altar of Baal and because he was afraid he did this by night. It is better to fearfully carry out God’s instruction than not carrying it out at all.

In chapter 7:2, the Midianites vs Isrealites where a ratio of about 4:1 that is 135000: 32000, God considered the men too many and seperated only 300 men who were vigilant even while drinking water in chapter 7:5-6 as men that are ready for battle against midianites.

 There is utmost importance as christians to be vigilant in service unto God and in battle against the enemy. The Midianites vs Isrealites now became a ratio of 450:1. There is never a situation of too few men to work for the lord. Gideon and his 300 men had victory over the Midianites by first blowing trumpets and shouting praises unto the lord, “A sword for the lord and for Gideon”.

 The sword of the Lord fought for them and the Midianites turned on each other with their swords and flied. When the 300 men pioneered and had victory , the other men joined the battle. God needs men that can pioneer the defeat of the powers of oppression of the enemy over his children. As we obey at every level, God’s presence brings mighty strength to us. It became clear to Gideon and the Isrealites that the same God that worked with their fathers was working with them.

As christians we must be willing to do the work of God. May God give us strength to do all he has ordained us to do.

We need to accept Jesus Christ as our lord and savior for us to get strength from God. Join the prayer below to do this

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ forgive me all my sins. I accept you as my personal lord and savior. Please give me strength to carry out my service to you. 

MINISTER: SAMUEL OGUTA

WHAT SHALL I RENDER: PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

WHAT SHALL I RENDER: PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Psalm 116:11-19. "...... verse 17, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LorD....". We must render praise and thanksgiving unto God. The human mind many times is constrained to focus on the things that are not there. Many times, we do not forget the things that are very important that God has made available even before we ask. God does not bless us or show mercy or good to us because he wants us to thank him, but he expects us to consider his goodness to us and come back to give praise and thanksgiving to him. Leviticus 22:29 says “When you offer a thanksgiving offering unto the lord, offer it at your own will”.

 Do not offer thanksgiving to God grudgingly, let it be from your heart and not that you are compelled. Luke 17:12-19 is the story of 10 lepers that Jesus cleansed, but only 9 came back to thank Jesus. Though Jesus did not tell them to come and thank him later, he expected them to. Only one leper came back to thank Jesus. Luke 6:35 says “He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil man”. This shows that an unthankful man is placed in the same category with the evil man. Rom 1:21 says “They knew God but did not glorify him as God but became vain in their imagination”. Habakkuk 3:17 says ”...The labor of the olive shall fail....Yet will i rejoice in the lord, i will rejoice in the Lord, i will be joyful in the God of my salvation” , Giving thanks is supposed to be a part of us even when things don’t go well with us. Isaiah 43:21 says “this people have i formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise...” There are times we do not feel like praising God, but we must know that we have been designed for praise and thanksgiving unto God.In Acts 16:25-28, Paul and Silas, they prayed and praised God even in prison and the solders heard them and the Holy ghost came down and the gates were opened and everyone became loosed 

 In 2 Kings 19:17, Hezekiah was troubled because the kings of Asyria has destroyed the nations and the land. Hezekiah later became a source of encouragement to others concerning the defeat of Asyria because of his believe that God will deliver him, and God delivered them. Then in 2 Chron 32:24-25, Hezekiah was ill and prayed,

God answered him, but he did not render thanksgiving to God therefore the Lord wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. The one song Isrealites will always sing is “the lord is good and his mercies endureth forever”.

That is the starting point of everything the psalmist is saying we should thank God for he healeth all thy diseases and redeems our lives from destruction. There are many benefits from God that are intangible and for the mercies we have from God we must continue to thank God.

Thanksgiving

In Matt 11:25- Jesus thanked God for revelation

In John 6:11-There was thanksgiving for provision. Jesus thanked God for the small bread and it multiplied.

In John 11:41- Jesus thanked God before calling forth Lazarus. Even dead things receive resurrection power in the place of thanksgiving.

In Jeremiah 30:19- The songs of thanksgiving shall come and God will add to their numbers

In Genesis 39:48- Judah means praise and God said he is the one his brethren will praise.

Part of the signs of the end time is that people will be unthankful. We need to constantly live a life of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving spices our prayer. Philippians 4:6” ...let your request be made known with thanksgiving”. A life of thanksgiving will be peaceful.

 There is a way we are not to thank God as seen in Luke 18:11,"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." In this passage the Pharisee’s thanksgiving was done with the intention to bring glory to himself.

Let us pray this prayer “Lord you have been good, we thank you for everything. For God has not given us as a prey to the dogs and our soul is escaped from the snare of the fowler. We have every reason to thank you God.”

For our praise to be effective we need to repent of our sins by joining the prayer below.

Prayer point: O lord God Almighty, Forgive me all my sins. I accept you as my personal Lord and savior. Thank you for your mercy that endures forever over me. Thank you for being good to me

MINISTER: SAMUEL OGUTA