Going to Jesus

Daily Thoughts

 Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:

• Collection

  Thoughts for the Morning Thoughts for the Evening Random Thoughts

• Month

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• Day

  12-01 Being Told What To Do 12-02 More Hope For a Fool 12-03 Discerning the Lord’s Body: Part One 12-04 Discerning the Lord’s Body: Part Two 12-05 You Are Evil 12-06 Humbling Ourselves To Work 12-07 Why Are You Where You Are? 12-08 Hating The Righteous 12-09 Putting Off Sackcloth 12-10 No Reason For Pride 12-11 The New Testament 12-12 Influence 12-13 The Breath of our Nostrils 12-14 Giving Place To Satan 12-15 Worth More Than Half 12-16 True Humility 12-17 Scourged . . . but Saved 12-18 Unwanted Blessings 12-19 Losing a Member 12-20 “Wine Is a Mocker” 12-21 Humility: the Mother of Learning 12-22 The Truth Can Become a Lie 12-23 Only What Was Created 12-24 God Is Not Old 12-25 Satan’s Messiah Is Coming 12-26 Knowing God 12-27 Understanding the Temptation 12-28 God Promised To Speak 12-29 Being Angry Is Not Sin 12-30 What God Sees 12-31 “Pinned and Wriggling on the Wall”

 

Random Thought
12-30

What God Sees

Hey Brother John,

I was reading the story of Gideon in Judges, and I have a question.

Judges 6:12–14: “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.’ And Gideon said to him, ‘Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.’ ” And the Lord looked upon him, and said, ‘Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites, Have not I sent you?’”

My question: When the Lord said “Go in this thy might,” what exactly was the word “this” referring to? Was it his faith that the Lord was in control of every aspect of his life?

Thank you.

Billy H.

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Hi Billy.

This portion of scripture from Judges provides us with an interesting scene, and it is one that we can take much from if God opens our eyes.

Did you notice where Gideon was when this angel came to him? He was hiding from the Midianites behind a winepress as he threshed out a little wheat to make himself some bread. There he was, so afraid of what the Midianites would do to him that he didn’t even want to be seen threshing wheat, and an angel suddenly appears and calls him a “mighty man of valor”. We know from that, that God was speaking to the Gideon that He saw, not to the Gideon that anyone else knew – including Gideon himself!

God was about to bring out the Gideon that He alone could see, and then use that Gideon to deliver Israel. The “might” that was in Gideon’s heart was his faith in the God that he had heard about, the God that had been testified about by his ancestors. Gideon believed in that God, and he loved that God, but where was He? Gideon wanted to know Him, but where was He? That was Gideon’s question. Nevertheless, Gideon believed in that God, and that genuine faith was the “might” that made Gideon a “mighty man of valor”, and man whom God would use to save His people.

How does God see us? We may be in hiding, like Gideon, and oppressed, as Gideon and Israel were, but what does God see? If God sees faith in His Son, and love for the truth, he will use us to bless His people. And like Gideon, it doesn’t matter to God whether we can see ourselves doing that; it only matters what he sees.

Thanks for the question, Billy.