Gideon's Secret~
Word for the Month & for Wednesday, Jan. 1
Scripture: Heb. 11:32-34
See Message: The Valiant One
One of the greatest heroes of the biblical record was called Gid'yone. We know him as Gideon. Gideon led a band of untrained men against a military camp many times larger and fully armed and did so with no weapons, nothing but shofars and torches. And he won. Gideon's charge goes down as one of the most amazing military victories in biblical history.
But Gideon didn't start out as a hero. He starts out in hiding, in fear of the Midianites. But something happened. Gideon would be transformed. How? It all began with an angelic visitation:
There came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak tree... and... Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide from the Midianites.... The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor."
What's strange about that? There's nothing in Gideon's life, history, or nature that would warrant his being called a man of valor, much less by an angel. Gideon was the opposite of valiant -- he was living in fear. Yet the angel calls him mighty. The Hebrew word that the angel actually said is even stronger -- Gibore. It means powerful, warrior, one who excels, a giant, a chief, and a champion. The disconnect gets even greater. The angel adds another Hebrew word, Chayil. Chayil means valiant, valor, mighty, virtuous, worthy. What had Gideon done to deserve such a greeting? Nothing. It's one of the strangest and seemingly inappropriate greetings in the biblical record.
But it came from an angel, and angels don't lie. So in some way it had to be true. How? The angel was not speaking about Gideon's past nor his present. He was not referring to who Gideon was. The angel was speaking of Gideon's future. He was greeting the person Gideon would become. The Lord had made Gideon not to fear, but to be courageous, a man of valor, a man of virtue, a man of courage, a man of power, a man of victory, a champion.
God does this throughout the Bible, calling an old man with a barren wife Avraham, the father of the multitudes, and a sometimes flaky disciple, the rock. The Lord doesn't call us according to our past, our record, or who we've been. He doesn't even call us according to who we are. He calls us according to who He made us to be. He calls us according to what we are to become in Him. Gideon's victory doesn't begin with his charge on the Midianites. It begins with the angel's greeting and his receiving it.
And so with you; if you want to have the victory God has called you to have, and become the person God calls you to become; you have to believe the call of God. What is it that God is calling you to? Who is it that God is calling you to become? Start believing it. Start living like it, walking like it, and overcoming like it. And it will come to pass. For the Lord is with you, you mighty one of valor!
This month, receive the divine greeting, and rise to the mighty person of valor, the champion, God called you to be.
Your brother and co-laborerrn
in His love and service,
Jonathan
Word for the Month & for Wednesday, Jan. 1
Scripture: Heb. 11:32-34
See Message: The Valiant One
One of the greatest heroes of the biblical record was called Gid'yone. We know him as Gideon. Gideon led a band of untrained men against a military camp many times larger and fully armed and did so with no weapons, nothing but shofars and torches. And he won. Gideon's charge goes down as one of the most amazing military victories in biblical history.
But Gideon didn't start out as a hero. He starts out in hiding, in fear of the Midianites. But something happened. Gideon would be transformed. How? It all began with an angelic visitation:
There came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak tree... and... Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide from the Midianites.... The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor."
What's strange about that? There's nothing in Gideon's life, history, or nature that would warrant his being called a man of valor, much less by an angel. Gideon was the opposite of valiant -- he was living in fear. Yet the angel calls him mighty. The Hebrew word that the angel actually said is even stronger -- Gibore. It means powerful, warrior, one who excels, a giant, a chief, and a champion. The disconnect gets even greater. The angel adds another Hebrew word, Chayil. Chayil means valiant, valor, mighty, virtuous, worthy. What had Gideon done to deserve such a greeting? Nothing. It's one of the strangest and seemingly inappropriate greetings in the biblical record.
But it came from an angel, and angels don't lie. So in some way it had to be true. How? The angel was not speaking about Gideon's past nor his present. He was not referring to who Gideon was. The angel was speaking of Gideon's future. He was greeting the person Gideon would become. The Lord had made Gideon not to fear, but to be courageous, a man of valor, a man of virtue, a man of courage, a man of power, a man of victory, a champion.
God does this throughout the Bible, calling an old man with a barren wife Avraham, the father of the multitudes, and a sometimes flaky disciple, the rock. The Lord doesn't call us according to our past, our record, or who we've been. He doesn't even call us according to who we are. He calls us according to who He made us to be. He calls us according to what we are to become in Him. Gideon's victory doesn't begin with his charge on the Midianites. It begins with the angel's greeting and his receiving it.
And so with you; if you want to have the victory God has called you to have, and become the person God calls you to become; you have to believe the call of God. What is it that God is calling you to? Who is it that God is calling you to become? Start believing it. Start living like it, walking like it, and overcoming like it. And it will come to pass. For the Lord is with you, you mighty one of valor!
This month, receive the divine greeting, and rise to the mighty person of valor, the champion, God called you to be.
Your brother and co-laborerrn
in His love and service,
Jonathan
