A Thanksgiving Prayer

“Offer to God thanksgiving, and pray your vows to the Most High” - Psalm 50:14

Father, we give thanks this day for all the blessings you have given to us, your children. We thank you for our families, friends, for providing for our every need, everyday - all good gifts come from you.

We thank you during the difficult times, too. Even in the mist our struggles we are joyful because you are here with us. You are near to us when our hearts are broken. You are our strength and our refuge and your grace is sufficient to see us through every trial.

Most of all we thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross for our sins. We are continually amazed that you would go through so much just so you would be able to call us “your children”.

You are the great Lord Of Hosts and we are just simple people. How could we ever repay you for the kindness you’ve shown us? We never could. We have only one thing we can offer you — our heart-filled thanks.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen

*I'Am COVERD BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS*

*I'Am COVERD BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS*

God bless you and keep you safe everyday!!!

WISHING YOU A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU IN THE NEW YEAR*

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP IN THIS YEAR AND THE COMING YEAR* GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE*

THIS WITH THE FORCE AS YOU

Judges 6.11-24)



Introduction

At its first preaching Synod, the Reformed pastor of Rennes, visibly moved, ended his sermon by saying: "And now, the Prior sweat blood! "This kind of gaffe worship is not uncommon it seems. The most famous slip of the world was protesting in the Faculty of Theology by a professor of History of Protestantism, paying tribute to the two major reforms: Luther and Calvin, by which a slip unfortunate, but now famous, became "Lutin and Calvary .. . "

But the gold medal for clumsiness church went to the lady who visited his pastor, hospital infused, overwhelmed, under medication. "Good news Mr pastor," she said. "The council voted to church to pray for your healing. Result of the vote; 6 votes to 5! "

I wonder if Gideon, the hero of this first reading, thought that the words of the angel of the Lord to v12 were similarly ironic? "The Lord is with you, valiant warrior. "It is a mockery or what? Gideon responds to v15 it is a simple utility humble beginnings. He is the youngest of a family unknown, a small tribe of a country unstable and vulnerable to foreign attacks. Tut, tut! "The Lord is with you! "Says Angel. Gideon does not think so. But listen to me! The image that you yourself is not necessarily the image that God has you.

I found nothing in this passage in September good reasons why God was with Gideon and we'll review it all later. But first, a word on the set of messages that starts today, first on Gédéon, and then Samson, both from the book of Judges in the Old Testament.

Gideon's story focuses on the concept of vocation. How God calls there people in its projects? What are the advantages of a man or woman that God calls in his plans? How does God guide Does each other in the way to its goals? How can we discern the voice of God and distinguish it from all other sounds that assail us and calling our attention? That Gédéon. If the history of Gédéon focus on vocation, that of Samson focuses on the concept of character. Samson, powerfully anointed by the Holy Spirit, is anything but a stable, sometimes naive, sometimes bleak, sometimes self-centered and occasionally angry. Nothing is more embarrassing than Chrétien advanced in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but delayed in the Christian character.

We, as Christians, we need both, we need a clear sense of our vocation and each of us needs to grow in maturity, bear the fruit of the Spirit. For the purpose, what God asks of us? God calls us to grow and bear fruit. Can you grow in your faith? Are you moving in your knowledge of yourself and God's will for your life? Can you advance in the spiritual gift that God gave you to build the church? We all need a clear sense of our vocation. But also, each of us needs to grow in maturity, bear the fruit of the Spirit. It is not enough to have the anointing of the Spirit as Samson, we need love, patience, goodness, kindness and self-discipline of Christ that come with it.

The period of Judges in the Old Testament, lasted 200 years or so, and lies between the time of the conquest of Canaan under Joshua and the kingdom under Saul, David and the rest. It is 1,200 years BC It is a dark and uncertain. The Israelites, boredom, falling into idolatry, prostrated himself before the gods of Baal and fertility as Asher. Infidelity to God leads to abuse by all kinds of neighboring enemies, the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Moabites and Midianites. Then, each time, God creates a charismatic leader (known as a judge) that brings people to faith, brings together troops, the situation peacefully, without quite destroying the aggressor. Calm settled again, and then the cycle begins again. But the refrain of the book of Judges is that these days there was no king in Israel. Each did what he saw fit.

At the time of Gideon is the Midianites, a Bedouin people, who harassed the Israelites. V12 But, as we have seen, God has other ideas. "The Lord is with you, valiant warrior. "Gédéon differed from his peers because God was with him. So what are the seven things that characterize such a person?



1. He was willing to act (v11)

The first characteristic of a person that God is with his presence, his support, his strength is that it is prepared to act. In v11 we find Gideon, alone, in the process of making flour, stealth, to have reserves of bread for his people. Gideon rolls his sleeves and set to work. It is a tough. It is an undertaking, an activist. All others from his village softly accepts oppression, occupation, the humiliation of the Midianites, but not Gédéon. God is with him, because he can not afford to do nothing. It takes action.

A father calls his two boys to help pick apples in the garden. It is the oldest in the process of watching TV. "Come help me son. But he did not want, then find excuses. "Oh, Daddy I'm tired, I have lots of homework to do, I have a headache ..." So the father found his other son, the latter being read a comic "Come give me a helping hand! "He said. The cadet replied immediately, "OK, pick apples, super! J'arrive Dad. At the same time, the elder regrets his behavior off the TV and get up to attend his father. After an hour they fill three large baskets full of apples. But there is no sign of the cadet who had forgotten his promise. Which of the two is the will of his father, who says' no 'and then act, or the one who said' yes', but that does nothing? It is a story that Jesus told in Matthew 21. The answer is obvious. God is looking for partners to take action, which are motivated and active. Fine words are not what God seeks. Gideon is at work. Angel of the Lord sees it and said, "The Lord is with you!



2. It is in solidarity with his people (v13)

A second reason why God is with Gédéon anchor because it is his identity at the heart of God's people. Gideon is not a loner, it is a solidarity. When, v12, the Angel said "the Lord is with you, valiant warrior," that is the first person singular, Gédéon in v13, responds in the plural, "the Lord is with us. Why? Because Gideon can not develop its identity outside of God's people. In our individualistic culture, identity equal personality. "I'm John, period. "But one thing that distinguishes Gédéon just like someone that God dwells in particular (" God is with you ") is his awareness of belonging to a holy people. It is solidarity.

The church, for us, is essential, important or accessory? Can we imagine life without other Christians? Believers around us are simply good people (with some exceptions rather pest) or really brothers and sisters needed? Gideon is one of its people and can not work otherwise. This is the second reason why the Angel of the Lord said, "The Lord is with you! "



3. It is plagued by a holy dissatisfaction (v13)

The third is, in my opinion, the most important v13 In September, listen Gédéon, "Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why so many misfortunes they hit on us? Where are all the wonders that our fathers have told us that the Lord brought us out of Egypt? In fact, the Lord has abandoned us and we delivered them to the power of the Midianites. "

This is a young man who was devoured by a holy dissatisfaction. His passion is that God extends his hand and intervenes in the affairs of its people. "Where are all the wonders that our fathers have told us? "That's perfect for him. But he saw around him as lost and oppression. And he does not accept it. He has a vision of God's people in both victory and humiliation on that cash Gédéon humiliation is not at peace. The Gédéon today are people who notice the decline of the Church on the continent and say, 'No! It can not be normal! That is not! "Gideon takes the shame of his God personally. He feels in his guts. He refuses this affront to the reputation of God's glory.

Do we feel the same frustration when we believe in the life of the Church? Are the weaknesses, mistakes, laxity, the softness of the Church bother you, to the point of shouting to God, "Why Lord? How long Lord? "

If so, I want to encourage. The deep dissatisfaction comes from God. It is the Holy Spirit that stirs something in you that things change. Gideon knows he is better, then it does not accept the status quo and that is a reason why God is really with him. Is it with you, valiant warrior?



4. It is marked by humility (v15-17)

The fourth attribute is his modesty. "The Lord resists the proud, but it is thanks to the humble," said Jacques 4.6.

Gédéon not only boasts of its qualities. In v15, there are limitations. He's young, inexperienced, usually discreet. This is not a champion or a genius and he knows it. Gideon, the young man next door. It does not hide its uncertainties v17. Do not claiming to be a Moses or Elijah he said, "If you really m'accordes your favor, shows me a sign that it is you who to talk to me. "It is not so sure. He hesitates. We will see that this is a very pronounced in Gédéon.

But "this force is with you," says the Angel in v14, "not with the faith that you do not. "Is not it encouraging that God said to be with people of faith as modest with giant signs and wonders? If you are a committed person, if you estimated the body of Christ and see your place in it, if you are passionate about the reputation of God and humble spirit, you can go very far with God.



5. He kept his word (v18-19)

But Gideon has other reasons why God is with him. The fifth is that it keeps its word. In v18 he said to the Angel, "Hold on, I shall return later. And the V19 it does exactly what it had promised. Gideon is a guy that respects its commitments. It makes the books that she prepared. He is a young man who arrives on time. Is someone who says, "I pray for you, 'and then he does. Gideon is serious. Jesus said, "When you talk about your 'yes' or a real' yes' and your 'no' is really 'no': anything that adds just the devil. "



6. It obeys (v20b)

Sixth, God is with Gideon because he is a young man who just obeyed. He had a spirit of protest. What the Angel asked to do in v20 is a bit strange. "Take the meat and unleavened bread and depositing them on this rock, then pouring juice on top. "It's curious. But Gideon is not "Why? "He does not need to know everything. He knows how to follow orders without knowing why. When the word of God tells us to love our enemy and do good to those who hate us, to keep sex for marriage, we rejoice when we suffer for our faith, we never worry about tomorrow, all render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar (yes, the reporting of taxes is now!) - is the hardest to obey. And as the saying goes, the ship does not obey the rudder will have to reef.



7. He fears God (v22-24)

The seventh thing: Gideon feared God. In v22, he acknowledged that the angel of the Lord and he cries: "Woe to me, Lord! Because I saw the angel of the Lord face to face. "Gédéon has such respect for the sanctity and glory and grandeur of God he thinks he will die. That reverence. Before God Gideon becomes aware of his helplessness, his state of sin. The angel of God calls it "brave" but we have God himself to make it so.

Note also the v24, it is important. "Gédéon built here an altar to the Lord and he called 'The Lord ensures peace. This altar still exists today. "If it was Ibis or Formula 1, the Bible says nothing ... No, seriously, he built an altar (altar). Why? Because Gédéon remembers permanently moments in life where God has touched.

It's so important that for all of us. When we spend a season in the desert spiritual remembrance of the goodness of God, when everything was new, when the blessings of God flowed over us every morning can give us the courage to persevere. Sometimes God lets us go through a period where its presence into the wings, where he waits before responding to our prayers, where he is testing our faith, which is hard. 103.2 Psalm: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, forget any of its benefits! "If you pass by here at the moment, remember times when God has done in your life, your conversion, the times when you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, the moments of grace, the revelations, the moments when his voice seemed so clear now ... and build an altar in that place. This means offering to God a sacrifice of praise here on where you chose to cherish the memory. And may God be with you, valiant warrior.



Conclusion

These are the seven criteria, the seven qualities in Gédéon shows that it is a blessed man. He was willing to act in solidarity with his people, devoured by a holy dissatisfaction with the status quo, marked by humility, true to his word, ready to obey and fear God. God was with him and he can be with each of us as well.

If you were to give you a note on 20 - God is with you or not? - What would you score? Gideon was a regular guy, and some doubts, some questions, some hesitation, it was not a giant, but God was with him. Whether it is also our witness.
God Bless.