Gideon - Answering the Call of God

I was reminded of the story of Gideon at Church on Sunday, which I must confess is not a very familiar one to me. When I think of the name Gideon, I tend to think of the Gideon International Organization, whose aim it is to put a Bible into every Hotel and Motel room around the world.

Which is why I decided to research the reason this amazing organization chose that name. I was inspired to learn that it was started by just two humble traveling salesmen with a simple, yet passionate desire to share the Gospel. These men chose the name because they wanted to remind others of the story of Gideon and what God can do with just one or a few men.

Gideon is definitely an unlikely hero of the Bible, with a horrific character, but who was used by God to save his nation from the destruction of their enemies. His story can be likened to the epic movies of Gladiator or my favorite, Braveheart, where one man stands up to make a difference and become the change they want to see.

There are so many lessons that can be learnt from the story of how God used Gideon, that I would encourage you to read it for yourself in Judges 6-8. It will stir up your faith to believe in the impossible, even when things make no sense and to see God’s strength as being much mightier than all of your weaknesses combined.

This odd story of unlikely weapons of a lamp, a jar and a trumpet will make you believe in the odds again. When things in the natural seem hopeless and you feel helpless, inferior or unqualified to make a difference, that’s when God steps in and says “You’re it!”. God doesn’t need our resources, our knowledge or our connections – all He needs is for us to be available to be used and to trust Him with the outcome.

It is so encouraging that God often chooses the least likely people to start the change that is needed. I believe this is to make sure everyone will see that it was God that made it happen and not the man or woman. Perfection is not a requirement for being used by God. All we need is faith, however little, and to believe that God can use even us, yes, even you!

As a supporter of the Move One Million movement (Move1Million.com), I like to believe that Jarette Petzer is an anointed man, chosen by God, to initiate change for our country, South Africa. He has shown us what one person can do to unite communities and has pressed on valiantly, despite great opposition.

When we stop allowing our excuses or weaknesses to stand in our way, and choose to go in whatever strengths we DO have, we can partner with God to bring positive change to our country, its people and even the world. When we are obedient with the little God gives us, He will enlarge our territories to accomplish even greater things.

There will always be a cost to being used by God, whether it is our time, our finances or even great risk, but when we choose to obey and offer ourselves available, putting all of our trust in Him and not rely on ourselves, we too can be like Gideon, and be used in a mighty way to save our nation.

Great change always starts with just one person who is brave enough to stand up and be counted and with a dream big enough to fight for. All we need is a little faith to start the flame and our mighty God to work through us, and ignite others to spread it…

Could God be calling YOU?...

Inspired by the Sermon given by Scott Ferreira at Life Changers Church, Milnerton – Release Wide (21 March 2021) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfTwesxXW10

 

How to Start a Revival

When we think of the word revival, we imagine some supernatural impartation from God, but what if I told you that revival begins with us? The word revival means ‘an improvement in the condition or strength of someone or something; or an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again.

Revival begins when God’s church come into agreement with the promises of the Bible in a unified yes and Amen. Amen is not just the end of a prayer, but it is the beginning of the declaration we are agreeing to.

In Mark 2:1-12 we read of ‘some’ faithful, expectant men (some Bible versions say 4 men) who pushed through the resistance to what they believed. It is the story of the paralyzed man being lowed down to Jesus from the roof, when the crowds would not let them through to Him. In other words, they pushed through and made a plan to reach their goal, Jesus.

Sadly, it is often the crowds in church that are ignoring the real needs of man, and are choosing to rather focus on themselves and their ‘elite’ members, instead of seeing the missed miracles all around them.

If we are ever going to start a revival, we need to stop looking inside and start looking outside, to where the broken and the lost are. Church is not meant to be a museum for the righteous, but a hospital for those who need God's healing. We need to be reaching far, raising up and releasing wide the people of God’s kingdom.

God’s revival power is linked to His heart, and that is for the people who are broken and need His restoration. When we decide to make ourselves available and pick up the heart of Jesus, that is when we will become carriers of revival and see His Church thrive and flourish.

We need to start pushing and breaking through our barriers, stop looking at our limits and start tearing off those ceilings in our lives, to get to where God’s grace is. Our barriers to revival are the crowds, the ceilings and the critics.

We need to be willing to get our hands dirty, to make sacrifices and go fetch the people to bring them to where Jesus is. By that, I don’t necessarily mean to bring them TO church, but to become the Church and bring Jesus to them.

We need to become people who are known for our love, our care, our concern and our kindness towards others, and not for our judgement and criticism of those we decide don’t measure up to who we think qualifies to become members of God’s Church.

We need to stop expecting an eternal response from God, and start becoming the carriers of God’s revival. Yes, we read of many testimonies of revival where it sounds like it began with just prayer, but we skip the part of how their prayers for others, mirrored their actions towards them. We cannot just stay in our safe, sanitized homes and pray for revival - we need to become the hands and feet of God and carry these people to the feet of Jesus. We need to start seeing the miracles that are right in front of us.

In this story of the paralyzed man that was lowed down through the roof to Jesus to receive his healing, notice what Jesus said. It was because of their faith that the paralyzed man was healed. We have the potential to become the cause and carriers of healing to others, through our faith, expressed through our prayers AND actions and start a revival that is so needed.

We need to counsel others with hope and give them access to the heart and love of God. Just like Jesus broke through the ceiling of heaven to get to us, the nobodies of earth, we need to break through our own barriers to get to those on the outside in order to bring them in. We need to ask God to revive us with His fire, so that WE can become the catalysts of revival; not just for our church building, but for His Church, the body of His Kingdom.

(Based on a sermon by Gabe Philips of Life Changers Church - Milnerton, Cape Town, South Africa) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=YRTsx41d1Bw

Song: Revival, Featuring Kim Walker-Smith, Album: Soulfire Revolution, Year 2013 - https://youtu.be/EiJJd3ISqSE