"...and though exhausted they continued to
chase the enemy."
chase the enemy."
Judges 8:4
My Take Aways
Something Old:
God wants to whittle away "my strengths" so He can make my weakness perfect strength-His perfect strength. Therefore, when the victory is won, I can bow before Him and worship Him, giving Him all the credit for the victory.
Something New:
Judges 8:24
The descendants of Ishmael were mentioned.
Something to Do:
Ask God to forgive me for my pride in thinking the "amazing among us" Joshua challenge had to be about me.
Praise Him for doing something amazing among me and allowing me to see it.
Gabriel's Caringbridge Page
Gabriel's Caringbridge Page
25 Comments:
As I prepare for sleep, I praise God for doing something amazing among me and allowing me to see or hear about it. Yeah for Gabrielle!
Dixie
I am so excited for the blessing of healing that God has done in Gabriel. It is amazing that the thing they took out of Gabriel's head was dead. Only God.
Wendy, I'm in agreement with you that the amazing things God does during this Joshua challenge doesn't have to be about us. Oh, what joy to here about the blessings of others.
Rejoyce with them that rejoyce.
Here's something to think about.
Today is Good Friday. Most people say that Friday is the day Jesus was put in the grave and He rose on Sunday. Jesus was in the grave for three days and three nights.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (KJV)
If Jesus was in the grave for three complete days and three complete nights He would have to be put there on Wednesday. The Jews days started with night at 6 P.M. each night. Because 6 P.M. Wednesday night started Passover they would have to put Jesus in the grave before then.
Leviticus 23 (KJV)
5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
The passover was a Sabbath, the first day of the feast of unleavened bread was a sabbath, and the next day was the regular Sabbath.
Matthew 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. (KJV)
This first day of the week we would think of as Sunday which means the end of the Sabbath was 6 P.M. Saturday night. Jesus rose any time after that before the women went to the sepulchre.
Here's a chart of the days and nights Jesus was in the grave.
Wednesday 6 P.M. First Night Thursday 6 A.M. First Day
Thursday 6 P.M. Second Night Friday 6 A.M. Second Day
Friday 6 P.M. Third Night Saturday 6 A.M. Third Day
Saturday 6 P.M. Jesus rose anytime after
Hope I'm still loved after this explanation/
.
HI Everybody,
Wendy you have a AMEN to that !!
Gabriel…Praise the Lord…. again Sing Praises!!
Oh ladies where to begin…Last nights mass….the readings….The explanation for the last supper and washing of the feet. The readings were right to the T.
1st reading was from Exodus 12:1-8...The Passover
2nd reading 1Corinthians 11:23-26...The night Jesus was handed over….Took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
3 The gospel reading John 13:1-15.…The washing of the disciples feet.
Father Peter had me feeling like I was there. Why the last supper for the disciples?? For Jesus to show them one last time what they are always to do. There are 3 of them:
1. The Eucharist: Receive it and know you are receiving Jesus “This is my body that is for you….This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
2. For them to be priest. For them to go out and teach his word. We need priest for this…we are to be praying for priest….without them there is no catholic church. How than would his word get to us?
3. The greatest commandment….To love one another…Him humbling himself by washing their feet.
Our priest came from Africa…he told us when he arrived …He told the Father he would go wherever he is needed….to spread the good news. I love his compassion…it shows in everything he does. He left us with a prayer card to pray for priest.
Now Can I have you come along side me and say this prayer for our priest:
Year for Priests
Lord Jesus,
You have chosen your priests from among us and sent them out to proclaim your word and to act in your name. For so great a gift to your church, we give you praise and thanksgiving. We ask you to fill them with the fire of your love, that their ministry ay reveal your presence in the Church. Since they are earthen vessels, we pray that your power shine out through their weakness. In their afflictions let them never be crushed; in their doubts never despair; in temptation never be destroyed; in persecution never abandoned. Inspire them through prayer o love each day the mystery of your dying and rising. In times of weakness send them your Spirit, an help them to praise your heavenly Father and pray for poor sinners. By the same Holy Spirit put your word on their lips and your love in their hearts, to bring good news to the poor and healing to the brokenhearted. And may the gift of Mary your mother, to the disciple whom you loved, be your git to every priest. Grant that she who formed you in her human image, may form them in your divine image, by the power of your Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
At the end of his strength….
Stay here and keep watch with Me….the hour has come.
See you in church this afternoon.
Rhonda
Good Morning~
I have enjoyed getting mostly caught up this morning with our reading, vlogs and comments. I did not get to do Wednesday's but did watch yesterday and today's video. I will go back if I have any extra time, but it might be one of those days I have to skip this year :) I love the teaching on God's strength being made perfect in weakness. I wrote in my journal:
Isaiah 40:30-31 "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
My To Do today is to keep looking to the Lord for my strength and even when I am tired know that He will sustain me.
Jennifer Renee- I read a book not too long ago that my husband got me called "Shocked By the Bible." One of the things in there was talking about the very thing you talked about. As I have read that and read the Bible myself, I agree with you. I even told Will yesterday that we celebrate Good Friday as the day He died, but it was probably not on a Friday. If He was in the grave three days and three nights, it could not have possibly been on a Friday. This book also explained some discrepancies in the gospels that always had me confused as to the preparing of the spices and how there were more than one Sabbath that week. Since reading this and reading the Bible and putting it all together I totally agree with you. I think we can still think of Him today, but I think it was actually earlier in the week.
Morgen, PTL!!! That is awesome news and also about Baby Gabriel! God is doing amazing things among us!
Hope you all have a blessed, blessed day today. It is going to be in the low 80s here in TN! My husband and son are off and they are going to mow grass, mulch flower beds, all those kinds of things while I go do all the grocery shopping and things like that. We want to get the chores out of the way so tomorrow we can all go see the new "Dragons" movie. It looks really cute :)
Love you all,
Brandee, TN
Good Friday all. Jennifer Rose - I agree with you; we celebrate Christ's crucifixion on Friday, but there's no way that it really happened on a Friday. I think theologians are in agreement on that. There are not 3 full days between now and Sunday. You are right on. My goal is to concentrate on what Christ did for me this entire Holy Week, and leave the details up to God.
Wendy, I too had to remind my self while praying the Joshua Challenge that even if I wasn't directly affected by His Wonders; I could still be a "spectator participant" cheering along!
Today I searched more about the clay pots that Gideon's army carried and smashed. The lighted torches were inside of these. They represent our bodies and God's light cannot shine out from them until we "break" ourselves.
I also wondered about Jotham's parable. We see that the people are moving from having Judges rule them, to desiring a king. They were willing to settle for a "thornbush" for a king over others who would have been better leaders.
I am in awe of our mighty God, who took a baby's brain tumor and made it obsolete. Thank you Jesus! Your wonders are among us everyday...we just need to look and see. Thank You for loving us so very much that you SUFFERED and died a horrible death so that we could be in Your presence forever and ever and never have to suffer the same fate. In the dictionary beside the word Amazing is Your picture! I love you so much.
Purified in Him and seeing His wonders!
Morgen
Yay for Baby Gabriel! :-)
Jennifer Renee, of course we still love you. I've often wondered exactly how the timing worked out. I've never heard that explanation before, but it is definitely something to think about. I have been a part of Passover celebrations before as a part of Easter preparations, but it's been a long time - I miss that.
That God would send away nearly 10,000 men and instead choose only 300 to fight such a big and drawn out battle surprised me. He really does do great things when we are weak.
What struck me the most, besides our endless sin-repent-repeat cycle was Abimelech. I remember the name but not much of the story. He had 70 siblings killed so that he could rule! It reminds me of David's son who tried to overthrow him to take over the thrown. Power can be a strong temptor, and those greedy for it can be cruel and evil. It is more important to have our hearts and minds on the Source of all Power than it is to have any sort of earthly power at all. I personally have never been interested in politics or fame or any of that as it seems to bring way too much trouble with it - yet power temptations can also sneak in in the form of promotions or volunteer positions or other types of service. I want to be as humble and as different from Abimelech as I can be.
God, please keep me mindful of my place in this world and respectful of Yours as the Creator of the Universe. Use me how and where you want me. All glory and honor is Yours. Thank You for what You have done for us. Amen.
A local church is having services every night this week, and we've been to the last two. We're going back tonight for the stations of the cross, where they'll carry the three crosses around the church yard and read scripture to make us mindful of both the physical and spiritual journey of Jesus. I've never been to a service like this. Looking forward to learning more!
Enjoying the sunny NC weather like wendy!
Amy
PS - I know this is long, but KLOVE is streaming a Louie Giglio/Matt Redmon/Chris Tomlin worship service tonight at 7 PM EST. In case you're interested. :-) www.klove.com
A Good Friday it is today - in deed! Sister Wendy, oh my goodness ~ good stuff, good stuff! God is coming out of you and His Word is truly alive and active. Your enthusiasm is so encouraging to me! Please do not worry about the noise, we love you wherever you decide to teach from!
We have all seen the trials & sufferings going among us, and as painful as they are, I am so encouraged because clearly, as we put our focus on God, we do see him working! He is busy every single moment. I got goose bumps listening to you talk about little Gabrielle! PTL!!! Our God, is a mighty God. May He get ALL of our Glory today! I’m seeing more and more, that how we “act” when we are in a difficult spot, this is one way that “others’” around us will see Jesus revealed. When we are in the middle of a trial, some type of suffering, or unbearable circumstance, we should thank God. He is working in us, transforming us to be more like Him. He is looking to see if we go to Him. Do we go to the Throne or do we go to the phone? Do we worry, or do we bow down and lift up our anxiety to him. He wants us, he wants all of us, first. That is how we are going to know him better. Through His precious and Holy Word revealed to us, or through a suffering, or through witnessing a trial around us.
When the enemy is after us and we don’t have any energy left, we can go to our Father. I love the verse you taught today Wendy, (Judge 8:4).
My New: I saw Christ revealed in the scriptures today: “As the Sword of the Lord” (Judges 7:20). In John’s revelation of Jesus, - “out of His moth went a sharp two-edged sword” (Rev. 1:16). We know that the sword “is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:17) and that Jesus is the Word of God “made flesh” John 1:14.
God pursues the small or even unimportant to do mighty things for His glory. He will use “the least” when we obey Him.
My To Do: I want to obey God, even in the smallest things.
Sanctify me dear Lord, draw me closer and closer to you each day. Transform me.
"I will keep on hoping for your help; I will praise you more and more. All day long I will proclaim your saving power, though I am not skilled with words. I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign LORD. I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do, Let me proclaim your power to this new generation" (Psalm 71: 14-18).
Sisters and brothers, have a blessed, blessed, blessed weekend! I feel so humbled as I think about everything that Jesus went through for us. All of the pain. All of the suffering. May my focus be on the cross, not only now, but, all year long. Thank you so much dear Lord, that Dave will be joining us in church service this weekend. I know you are working in him, and I am joyfully anticipating the Glory that is to come! Sweetie-pie’s keep us in your prayers…we are attending the 4:30 service on Saturday. Love you and praying for you all. Lori - AZ
Good morning, GIG's from finally sunny New England,
Wendy words once again struck home. As I look back over my years, the Lord has done "divine pruning" in my life several times in an attempt to get things down to "He and me." My to do: accept the pruning and rejoice that I have my Lord.
My nugget from today: God chooses us for certain jobs. Wendy was chosen to bring us all together into this fellowship I love because it keeps me close to God and in awe of his wonderous mercy and powers, which I am privileged to witness through all of you :)Where to begin...
Praise the Lord for this week's big signs -- Gabriel's dead tumor, and Morgan's friend Jim's negative tests for cancer! And thank you Lord for this week's smaller signs -- G&P's husband's praising of the Lord, and the garage door story, which I loved!! And Dixie, your happy stories brought a much-needed smile to my face. You go, girl!
G&P - thank you, dear one, for all your research on our behalf. And I pray things are going to "warm up" again between you and your DH. He sounds like a sweet man.
Kate: Happy Birthday to your daughter, and YES, PTL on your success with your Joshua challenge.
Jacque and Lori - I so admire your God-given talent in crafting such beautiful prayers. Thank you!
Sara in IN - I enjoyed the link you gave us - thanks!
Jennifer Renee - I have benefited from your computer tips. Thank you!
Kim in IL, and G&P - your words are things I needed to hear as I seek God's advice on whether to step out in battle on behalf of a 9-year-old student of mine. This boy successfully battled brain cancer last year, but there are residual effects from the treatment that I don't feel are being dealt with. Not sure how to proceed on this.
Marianne, how is Carla doing? Praying for her!
Sorry about the long rambling post. I have much to do today, as we are still dealing with the flood damage in our lower level, but I needed to strengthen myself by coming here first. I never got back here yesterday, and my heart truly yearned to connect with "y'all" this morning.
Peace and gratitude,
Michelle in New England
Lori, LOL, cause we did it again, my posting twin :)
Michelle
Wendy,
I just have to tell you that I will be praying and asking for forgiveness also. I too selfishly thought that a mircle amoung us would include me - but you are so right.
But when I stop and think about it. It did include us. We have all been praying for this baby and asking God to heal him and so God answered our prayer.
I have seen my mircle! I am so thankful that he is my awesome God who still performs mircles today!!
Everyone have a Blessed and Safe Easter.
Amanda
Good morning all,
Hebrews chapter 9 has a lot to say about Christ being our High Priest.
Verse 11: But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Verse 12: For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sancitifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Verse 13: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Verse 22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Verse 24; For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
How wonderful it is to have Jesus Christ as our High Priest, who offered His own blood, from the perfect Lamb, to the Father as remission for our sins. The only thing we do is believe this and ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins.
Now we don't need a priest to pray for us because Jesus interceeds for us to our Father God. Be careful that you don't make Mary, Jesus's mother, part of the diety. Only God, Jesus His Son, and Holy Spirit have these qualities. We believers only pray to God through Jesus, not Mary. She was only the vessel through whom God used to take on the form of man.
How wonderful that our Savior has victory over the grave! Death is not the victor.We will see our loved ones who have gone on before us.
As Jesus rose from the grave, we rise to praise His name.
Linda from Ark.
Linda, I agree with your comments about Mary. And I am also so glad I finally realized that I may pray, chat with, worship, and have a relationship directly with God through Jesus. AMEN!
Michelle in New England
P.S.
http://www.pandora.com/#/song/thumbs-up/S1020218
Check this out - Psalm 23 to music!
Or, you can get it via this Youtube link, hopefully
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Hz2lG9VVU
Wendy - PRAISE GOD for Gabriel's miracle. Amazing, amazing, amazing. I agree with Amanda - we are part of the miracle because we all prayed on his behalf.
Jennifer Renee, we still love you. To me it matters not when He was crucified. What matters is He rose again!
Michelle, thanks for your encouragement! It means a lot. May God give you clear directions on what to do on behalf of that 9-year old. I have a 9-year old, too and his school family just lost one student to brain cancer two days ago so it hits home for me.
Has anyone heard from Elle Elle (Liz in Alaska)? She has not posted in a while and she's my posting twin so I'm praying all is well with her.
Today's reading is one of my favorites. I love the story of how a rag tag band of 300 defeated an army of 135,000. Jon Courson said that is an odds of 450:1 which is the same odds Elijah faced in 1 Kings 18 against the prophets of Baal. How awesome is our God?
One thing that caught my attention in the commentary is when God allowed Gideon in Judges 7:9-12 to hear what the Midianites are saying. He heard the Midianites talking about him, by name and that they were afraid of him! Yes, poor, cowering Gideon was a terror to the Midianites.
Why?
Here's what Jon Courson said: "No doubt the Midianites heard how he had pulled down the altar of Baal, in effect challenging Baal face to face. Even though only a few people saw Gideon do this, even though only a few people were initially aware of it, word spread that he was a man of power.
"The same is true today. Many times we are afraid of the demons of the enemy - but in reality, the enemy knows we who name the name of Jesus Christ can utilize His name, stand in His authority and be unstoppable. If you have been moving out for Jesus Christ - even if it's not widely known by those around you - your name is known in hell. If you're being attacked, persecuted, hassled, bombarded - rejoice. It means they're talking about you a lot down there. If you're never persecuted, never attacked, never hassled - that's when you need to worry." (p. 752)
And this as they smashed their pitchers:
"It was normal in battle that one torch is followed by a thousand soldiers so when they saw the light the Midianites thought there were surrounded by 300,000 men. When they heard the crashing of the broken pitchers, saw the torches light up the night sky and heard the cry of the trumpets, they thought they were doomed. And in the chaos and confusion, in their suspicion and superstition, they began to butcher each other.
"What application does this have for us today? Earthen vessels that we are (2 Cor 4:7), whenever we are broken, the light shines forth from our lives, causing Satan to be as confused and defeated as the host of Midian..."
"And we who have come into the saving knowledge of Jesus are to trumpet this gospel to all who are still dominated, controlled, oppressed by the Midianites of sin, Satan and self. We have the answer: The Light of the world, Jesus Christ, dwells within us. His light is inside of us but it is also to be radiating from us. And there's the rub.
"...The Lord wants to release the light of Jesus which He has placed in you. He wants His light to shine out from you in order that others can be saved and freed and satisfied. How does this happen? Only by breaking - for just as the light of the torch was hidden within the earthen vessel until the pitcher was broken, so too if our lives are going to be a blessing, there must first be a breaking."
Be unstoppable! May we all shine this Resurrection Weekend.
I love God's tender heart. Today we see it with addressing Gideon's fear 7:10-11a "If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward you will be encouraged to attack the camp." God recognizes our fears and insecurities and offers us the balm to calm us.
In 8: 28-25, It often seems to me like the Israelites find God only good for crisis-es and when things are going good they become self-centered and self-indulged. This looks too much like me; oh, how I want that to change, so that I run to the Father in good and bad, not just in need, but also in praise and thanksgiving.
Thanking Him for the many praises and lifting up the many prayers.
Have a wonderful Good (Great) Friday.
Gaylene
Enjoying the beautiful weather in northern IN.
happy good friday-- had to chuckle at your (wendy) apology for the background noise from outside videos cuz the past 2 days have heard someone either leaf blowing, outside lawn mower or vacum or ???? don't mind the dog bark that was cute. But had a really hard time concentrating today as all I heard was the "noise"...will have to try to re-listen to the words and not the "noise".
Blessings
A somber good afternoon to everyone. I haven't had time to read the comments yet, as I have spent the past 3 or so hours in the word, playing catch up, and asking God to refill my spiritual bucket.
Also preparing for the funeral-esque service I will be attending to this evening in remembrance of my sin murdering my savior.
I loved the readings the past couple of days, though. I am going to listen to a sermon one of our pastors did on Gideon this weekend.
My Old/New today was that the men of Succoth and Peniel refused to aide Gideon and his small army out of fear that the Lord would not give them victory and the Midianites would end up punishing them for assisting their OWN PEOPLE!! Succoth and Peniel are Isrealite towns (I'm pretty sure)!!! Just blows my mind.
My New kind of bounced off Wendy's point of God whittling down the army to show His power through their weakness.
My nugget today was to be more aware of where I attempt to arm myself when I am going into battle or out of fear of failure, when in doing so, I am limiting God's ability to shine through my weakness. I pray that I will never forget that in his gracious sovereignty he has fought all of my battles for me, ahead of me, and given me victory FOR HIS GLORY.
Have a blessed and thoughtful Good Friday all. Praising the Father for his miraculous works in our sweet baby brother Gabriel.
I was thinking today on the way back home from running errands, God knew in advance what this precious baby was going to be facing this week. He invited us ladies to participate in the divine. To do this Joshua challenge to see His glory in this child's life. How amazing is that!? Just blew me away thinking about it this afternoon. There is a lot of power in prayer and fasting, especially corporately when we all do it together. This Joshua challenge has quickened our hearts to lay down something or do something for God's glory to be seen. It was! We go to be part of it. I think that is way cool :)
G and P I agree with you that it is more important that Jesus rose. I'm glad that he died for our sins. I have to get ready to go to church but I wanted to share the lyrics to this song.
Rev. James Cleveland
He Decided To Die
When Jesus hung on Calvary,
people came from miles to see;
they said, if you be the Christ,
come down and save your life.
Oh but Jesus, my sweet Jesus,
He never answered them,
for He knew that Satan was tempting Him.
If He had come down from the cross,
then my soul would still be lost.
He would not come down
from the cross just to save Himself;
He decided to die just to save me.
So happy to hear the news about Gabriel! Sometimes I find myself surprised too when God does miracles but I shouldn't be.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!! It sounds like it will be beautiful weather for most of the country.
~Anna
in MA
Friends I come tonight asking for your prayers on John's behalf. He said tonight he is not going with us to church on Sunday morning and going to sleep in instead. PLEASE pray friends. Will is going to be so upset if his dad does not go with us to church on Easter :( Mommy might be a little upset too....
Thanks everyone
Oh Brandee, the prayers have gone out - and will continue to go out for all you. I pray that John will see the Light in you and have the desire to know Who gives it to you.
Praise God for Baby Gabriel.
I also have a very dear friend who has been down on his luck - losing contracts, newly divorced, etc. with a multitude of things just not going right. I have been praying for him for so long - and today, he finally got some great news. I immediately thanked God. It was His doing. But there is also a part of me that wonders - when will it be my turn? Forgive me Father for my selfishness.
I continue to pray for all those seeking guidance from the Lord as we enter this Resurrection weekend. He will provide and guide.
Love you guys. Thanks so much for all your contributions and prayers.
Oh, Brandee, I know how you are feeling right now. My son has also been in Will's shoes. That scenario has played in our home time and time again. Abba, Father, you have given us a miracle in this week by killing the cancer cells from baby Gabriel. Please grant us another one in breathing life to John's heart. Please soften it and give him the desire to join his wife annd son to church on Sunday. There is nothing Brandee and Will want more than to have John give his life to you. I feel, Father that it is close because the enemy is working overtime. Please give Brandee and Will the words to say to him. Make their lights shine, Father. Just like Gideon and his army in our reading today. We are few in number against the enemy but we have You. Thank you, Father.
(Ok as I know we are close because as I was typing this a shopping cart hit my car in the parking lot. And it's not my car but my dad's, too. But it's okay!)
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