Less So much more…. 1) Limitless 2) Fearless Powerless.
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Transcript of Less So much more…. 1) Limitless 2) Fearless Powerless.
Less
So much more…
1) Limitless
2) Fearless
Powerless
Powerless is desirable
Powerless is truth
"Mighty warrior.."
Perspective: what God sees
Spiritual Truth: what God does
You're gonna defeat the Midianites…
The sign of the Holy Burnt Toast
Cut down the altar to the false gods…
Jerub-baal
Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israelby my hand as you have promised…
Mighty warrior
Burnt Toast
Jerub-Baal
Faithlessness in the present
Is almost always a sign ofForgetfulness of the past
…look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor.
If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said”
Faith?
And that is what happened.
Gideon rose early the next day;he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew- a bowlful of water.
Satisfied?
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece…"
Is this really about fleece
and
proof?
God's people have a history of
Covering their unwillingness to serve
With spiritual-sounding excuses
Why is God willing to prove himself?
Should we "put out a fleece"?
Should we "put out a fleece"?
Testing what God has already clearly said
As I grow
Is it possible I will walk more by faith and
less by sight?
Time to fight!
UFC
Pastor Brian vs. a 10-year old
UFC
Pastor Brian vs. Anderson Silva("The Spider")
4 to 1
32,000 against 135,000
Umm…OK, but I'm shaking!
What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!
What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!
I'm bringing him in closer, Merlin.
What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!
I'm bringing him in closer, Merlin.
You're gonna do what?!?
The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men
for me to deliver Midianinto their hands
You're too powerful
In order that Israel may not boast against me
that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people,
‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead’”
God takes bragging personally
God chooses powerless people so that his power might be
on display in them
So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained
13 to 1
10,000 against 135,000
Uh…can we please go back to the fleece?
But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men.
Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there.
If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’
he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’
he shall not go.”
Why is it important to let God do the sifting?
So Gideon took the men down to the water.
There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water
with their tongues like a dog
from those who kneel down to drink”
Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their
mouths. All the rest got
down on their knees to drink
450 to 1
300 against 135,000
Powerless
Powerless
Mighty Warrior
Because he is Powerless
He's in a position to be a Mighty Warrior
“Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it
into your hands
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”
Spiritual Truth
When God refuses to give us what we want…
It's because he knows what we need
So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.
The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
"I had a dream…"
"I had a dream…"
{Powerful}?
"I had a dream…"
How about {Fearful}?
When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the
camp blow yours and shout,
‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”
The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars.
Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the
trumpets they were to blow, they shouted,
“A sword for the LORD
and for Gideon!”
While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites
ran, crying out as they fled.
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men
throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords
- Judges 6-7
Who wins?
Whose Power?
“You have too many men
for me to deliver Midianinto their hands…"
If Gideon had been more powerful,
he would have been absolutely powerless
Powerless is desirable
Powerless is true
Powerless is to be embraced
Brainwrap
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-
and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are,
so that no one may boast before him- 1 Cor. 1:26-29
Brainwrap
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,
in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong
- 2 Cor. 12
What I don't have
is my starting point for knowing God's Power in me
What I don't have
is my starting point for facing life with peace and
confidence
What I don't have
is the ability to save myself
What I have is the cross
Apple Cart…