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| Old Testament Scripture Reading: Judges 6:1 – 17 (NASB) |
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Judg 6:7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of Midian,
Judg 6:8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out from the house of slavery.
Judg 6:9 ‘And I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land,
Judg 6:10 and I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me.”‘”
Judg 6:11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.
Judg 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.”
Judg 6:13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Judg 6:14 And the LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
Judg 6:15 And he said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
Judg 6:16 But the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”
Judg 6:17 So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Thy sight, then show me a sign that it is Thou who speakest with me. |
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| New Testament Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 4:1 – 8 (NASB) |
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2 Tim 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Tim 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires;
2 Tim 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.
2 Tim 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Tim 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
2 Tim 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
2 Tim 4:8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. |
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Transforming Power Statements:
#1) To fear the LORD is to obey the LORD.
#2) The memories of what the LORD has done in the past & the fact that we are still here and have not been ultimately judged, insures us that the LORD is still with us and is allowing greater mercy for a continuing progress toward the contents of “His Plan”.
#3) In spite of how trivial, or how wrong, frustrating, difficult, disappointing, even ridiculous are certain events in this life as we go through them, we must learn to see them as the LORD does and fight the good fight of faith armed with the power of the promises of God to finish the good work that He started in us.
Rom 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,
Rom 16:26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;
Rom 16:27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. |
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