Brag on God Friday

I'm so glad you are here! I hope during your visit you get a glimpse of God's heart for we become what we are gazing at. I pray that God refreshes you and gives you readiness to persevere in what He has for you today.  My desire is to be a blessing to you in helping you know God more and make Him known so I've made these Resources available to you and have the Missional Living blog tab for practical ideas of how to live on mission right where you are. 

"The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us--you, your son and your grandson--because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare
to Gideon and his family." Judges 8:22-27

Andrew Bonar wisely said, "Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle." Before and during the battle fear and worry drive many to their knees in desperation for God to come through. After the battle is won the felt need to trust the Lord is removed, and many return to life as it was before. That is why I find it so beautiful the people who walk with the Lord in full dependance on Him even when life is good and it seems like all is in it's place.

Here we see Gideon's sad end. Now, in heaven, he can not stand in agreement with Paul in saying he finished well. Instead the last thing written about him is his act of disobedience and the impact it had on the entire nation. Oh Lord, let it not be true of us!

With Gideon we have to come to terms with what Henry Cloud calls the Good/Bad Split. The ability to not go to extremes of something being all good or all bad. The ability to recognize that if someone messes up that does not mean they are all bad. Or when someone, place, organization or ministry does something praise worthy, that does not mean they/it is all good.

When Gideon says, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." I am so proud of him. "Yes! Way to go Gideon!" He points to the Lord, reminding them it was He that brought the victory. I mean seriously, how can a 300 man army defeat 135,000!? Oh how easy it is to put way more faith in humans than we deserve. But then...  I mean seriously, then... right after saying this, Gideon goes to make an ephod. Instead of turning the Lord and asking, "What now?", and instead of calling the nation to repentance, to turn to and obey the Lord, he takes matters into his own hands. Oh how easy it is to think we can do the little things on our own and just trust God with the big and impossible. We really can not please the Lord or do anything eternal apart from the Lord. Not just the big and impossible but even the little and seemingly insignicant. We need His grace just as much in the small things He has called us to. Oh the beauty of relying on the Lord in all things.

So Gideon making this ephod, commentaries explain that we can't be sure of his motives (Isn't that like the Lord. A little reminder that only the Lord searches the heart) of why he made this ephod.  It could have been out of a pure heart of wanting to have and give direction to the people (what an ephod was used for).Or it could have been out of insecurity of not feeling worthy. Or it could have been out of fear or control or wanting power. We don't know. But the same term used for the word ephod is also used for an idol. So it could be that Gideon took the gold earings and made an idol. Either way Gideon was disobeying the Lord by making this. Here's how Warren Wiersbe says it, "If the ephod was indeed a copy of the high priests garmet, then Gideon was definitely out of God's will in duplicating it and using it, because ideon wasn't a priest. If it was a standing idol, Gideon was disobeying God's law (Ex.20:4-6) and corrupting th people as well."

When we look to other things instead of the Lord for security, it just doesn't turn out well for anyone. Gideon didn't find security in the ephod and the people didn't find security in Gideon. Oh Lord, help us look to You and You alone to find security. Please show us where we are looking to other things.

"Gideon probably thought that his children were well provided for, but just the opposite proved true. Sixty-nine of his seventy sons were killed by their half-brother who himself was slain by a woman dropping a stone on his head. There is no security apart from the will of God. Had Gideon practiced Matthew 6:33, subsequent events might have been radically different." (Wiersbe)

Don't you want to finish well? I do! Lets rely on the Lord in the easy and hard times.Lets continually look to Him for as our security, as our strong tower.

Do you want what is best for your kids? Of course! Remember ease, comfort, money and a good job are not really what they need to have a good life. A relationship with the Lord, where they consistently turn to Him and rely on Him is the thing they most desperately need. May Lord re-order our priorities and hopes for our kids to match His.

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The Entire Series. 
What Have You Missed?

Chapter One
{Verses 1-3} Know-er 
{Verses 4-7} Reliance 
{Verses 9-11}  Bigger Picture 
{Verses 17-19} Prepare for Battle
{Verses 21-2:6}  No More 

Chapter 2
{Verses 7-11} Revealer 
{Verses 11-12} The Lord's Anger
{Verses 14-15} Love Conquers
{Verses 16-19} The Great Rescue
{Verses 22-3:4} The Big Test       

Chapter 3
{Verses 7-11} Willing & Available 
{Verses 12-14} Facing the Enemy
{Verses 15-30} Freedom 
{Verse 31} Comparison

Chapter 4
{Verses 2-3} Beauty of Bridled Strength  
{Verses 8-13} Tons of Nuggets 
{Verses 17-5:31} Where's the Trust      

Chapter 5
{Verses 2-31} Offering   

Chapter 6
{Verse 2} Running out of Darkness 
{Verses 7-8} God Responds 
{Verses 11-12}Redemptive Eyes  
{Verse 13} Questioning Goodness 
{Verse 14} What Strength?   
{Verses 15-16} Just not enough
{Verse 17} Is it really you? {Verse 18-22} Grace Upon Grace
{Verse 25-31 } Courageous Defender 
{Verse 33-40} Courage Giver  


Chapter 7
{Verse 1-8} Mad-Lib 
{Verse 9-15} Stepping Out 
{Verse 16-25} Mighty One 
{Isa. 9:2-7} Light of the World

Chapter 8
{Verse 1-3} Sitting the Bench
{Verse 4-12} Unstoppable 

Will you join us in bragging on God?

Each Friday, I love to give others and opportunity to ban together and tell about how incredible God is. If you'd like to "proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness" click the link below and follow the prompts to link up your post. 

Please let your readers know by including a link in your post or put my button code (found on the side bar) so they can find these other great people bragging about the greatness of God.

And there is something I've been thinking about and would love your feedback on...
I am thinking about moving Brag on God Friday's to Brag on God Thursdays. I think that would make it possible for more people to join us (since many like to participlate in  5 minute friday). But if I had it up on Thursday, it would just be up for one day (and I like to have your links up for the weekend so you get the most chance of others finding you as possible.) But I blog every weekday. So what do you think? Should I move it to Thursday's or not?