Brown's Daily Word 5-7-10

Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for the garb of Spring, truly a wonderful gift from the Lord. The Lilacs are blooming, the Honeysuckles are in full bloom. The trees are green. Our Lord makes His creation beautiful. He is more than Wonderful.
Those who live in the area join this evening for our Television outreach at 7 PM on Time Warner Channel 4. We will gather tomorrow for the banquet and concert tomorrow, beginning at 6 PM. Sunday is Mother's Day. Praise the Lord for the gift of moms, and for the gift of home.
I am reading from the book of Judges this morning. In chapters 6 and 7 we find the familiar story of Gideon, whom God called “a mighty man of valor”. His story is almost unbelievable simply because Gideon was not a warrior or a great military commander. He was simply a farmer who was hiding his wheat crop from the Midianites who had conquered Israel. He was hiding behind a winepress while threshing his wheat when the angel of the Lord came to him.
When the Lord called Gideon, he was not prepared to take the reigns of authority, commanding an army. He was leading a simple life, existing from day to day as God provided him the means to do so. He just went about his daily routine, plowing, planting, and harvesting. He never once thought of becoming a deliverer of his people.
In his own eyes Gideon was less than nothing. He had no power within himself, no knowledge of warfare and tactics, no education in the use of weaponry, and no ability to lead men into battle. In other words, he was just a common citizen trying to make it the best way he knew how. But God saw something in this man Gideon that no one else could see!
God saw that Gideon was nothing in his own eyes, as well as in the eyes of other men. Gideon was the least likely of all his brethren. Even he said that he was the least among his tribe, the Tribe of Manasseh, and that his family was poor even among that small, poor tribe.
I am reminded of the words of Paul to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence."
God’s view of who is useful to his Kingdom is so very different from our own! We may look for those who have talent or those who are influential. We may look for those who are great orators or those of high education. We look for those whom everyone would call, “beautiful people”, because we think that somehow the fleshly appearance and ability will draw crowds or bring down the Spirit of God in some special way. God doesn’t look for what we look for in those that he will use. God looks for a willing vessel but, more than that, God looks for that willing vessel that is broken and powerless without him.
I like what Tommy Tenney says in his book God’s Eye View, “Less is Better and Nothing is Best.” What he is saying is that God will only use those vessels that are powerless to take any credit for what God wants to do through their lives. God will wait and allow us to drain all of our resources, use up all of our abilities, exhaust our strength, and come to the end of our rope. Then, when we have done all we can do to no avail, and we bow our heads in complete surrender to Him, God will take over to move on our behalf to accomplish his will.
Our Risen Lord chooses to use these earthen vessels which we know as bodies of flesh. It is an imperfect, weak, corrupted body that is destined to return to the earth, and yet God will use this flesh to do his will. He has placed His spirit within our hearts, and we are held captive inside an imperfect clay vessel: a perfect Lord living inside an imperfect clay vessel.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds): Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" The weapons of our warfare are God’s weapons, spiritual in nature, and against them Hell has no defense.
Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD."
2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
Jeremiah 20:11, "But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten."
God delights in delivering his children. He is our strong and mighty tower. He is our fortress and our refuge. The battle is His, not ours! WE ARE ON THE WINNING SIDE!
In His Victory,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZWhGmQL-Ec