February 8, 2015 - How God Turns Nobodies Into Somebodies (Goehner)
/How God Turns Nobodies Into Somebodies
Hebrews 11:32 and Judges 6 & 7
Judges 6:11 – The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites.
Verse 12 – The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
Four Steps To Becoming Somebody Usable:
Step One: Affirmation.
Verse 12 – You are a mighty warrior.
Verse 13 – But sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and put His hand into the hand of Midian.
Verse 15 – But Lord, Gideon asked, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Mannasseh, and I am the least in my family.
-The wrong village.
-The wrong family.
-The wrong guy.
Verse 14 – Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?
Verse 16 – I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as if they were but one man.
-I am sending you.
-I’m going to be with you.
-You can’t fail.
Step Two: Revelation.
Verse 22-24 – When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the Lord said to him, peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die. So Gideon built an altar there, and he called the altar, the Lord is Peace.
Altar: A personal commitment to God.
Lesson: Before you are ready to fight external battles, you must have internal peace.
Step Three: Confrontation.
Three Tests:
-God may test you spiritually.
Verse 25-27 – Tear down your fathers’ altar to Baal, so Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him.
Exodus 20:3 – Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
-God may test you emotionally.
Lesson: Service for the Lord always begins at home.
-God may test you physically.
Judges 6:30 – The men of the town demanded of Joash, bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar.
Verse 31 – But Joash replied to the hostile crowd, are you going to plead Baal’s cause? If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself.
Step Four: Transformation
Verse 34 – Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.
Lesson: Power always comes after testing.
Luke 4:1 – Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the desert.
Verse 14 – Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
