The pain has come. God warned his
people that if they did not follow him they were going to have some painful
seasons of their life. They have sold themselves out to the people of the land,
and now they are paying the price for it. Seven years they have found
themselves under the rule of the Midianites. However, God still has an overall
plan and purpose for his people Israel. He still plans to use them to bring
Jesus into the world. So he isn’t going to hand them over completely.
During this time God will raise up
leaders called judges to deliver the Israelites from oppression. He does so
today in a man named Gibeon. On behalf of God and with the power of God Gideon
does some pretty amazing things for the people. The first place he started was
with the objects of worship. This is a powerful lesson for us to learn.
If we want to see change in our lives
the first place we have to start is with our worship, with our devotion. It is
great to have all these desires to change all sorts of issues in your life. However,
when you remove something you are creating a void there. It has to be filled.
Why not fill the void before you ever create it. Sure you might want to stop
smoking, stop cursing, stop getting drunk, stop filling your mind with
pornography, stop neglecting your children, stop turning first to anger, stop
being overcome with road rage, and on and on. These are all noble things. But
to be perfectly truthful … to do so, first you need to replace them with God
and devotion to him. Do as Gideon and strike down the objects of your devotion
that are not God, and then put full devotion to him.
At West Side we are beginning a new
prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily
for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to
receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We
appreciate your partnership.
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