“…he worshiped God.” (Judges 7:15)

Gideon was one of the judges that God raised up over Israel when Israel “had no king and did what was right in their own eyes” (Jdgs. 21:25)

Now Gideon was not the most courageous of the Judges and he had a hard time trusting the Lord. But even through is lack of courage and lack of trust, the Lord used him to deliver Israel out of their sin for a season.

Gideon had some incredible times with the LORD. He met the Angel of the LORD earlier in his life and received the call to deliver Israel. He offered a sacrifice in the very presence of the LORD. He saw the Angel of the Lord appear and then vanish out of his sight in and exclaimed, “I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face!”, thinking he would die because of this. He demolished an alter of Baal in the night before anyone could catch him. He tested God twice when wanting to know if He would be with him. He used a fleece on the ground and in both cases and God did the miraculous. He heard the voice of God and was directed by God to thin out the soldiers.

But what brought about “worship” in Gideon’s heart. You would think any of the experiences above would have ended with …”he worshiped God.” But non of the above brought about worship. So what did?

Well Gideon was still afraid to go into battle against the Midianites, so God had him go down with his servant one evening to listen to what the Midianites had to say. Gideon and his servant, Purah, go down to the campsite of the Midianites and secretly spy on what is going on down in the enemy’s camp. Gideon overhears two Midianites talking (these guys would be equal today to two fellows who had no desire for God, hated Jesus followers, and wanted to conquer the world by their own ingenuity) and one tells of this odd dream he has and the other interprets the dream. Now remember these are two “lost”, “unbelieving”, “ungodly” , “unrighteous” and “self-loving” men. The second interprets the dream as “God is going to give us over into the hands of Gideon and the Israelites.” He was basically saying that God was going to win the battle.

After these words from a pagan man, unaware that a “follower of God” was listening in, Gideon WORSHIPS God. Who would figure – that is what brought Gideon to worship God and have all confidence in his Mighty Savior? – That is what it is and that is how the story goes. You must read the rest of the story to get even more humor from man’s point of view and awe in looking at what God actually does.

All of this to say, for the last few weeks, Lynda and I have been handing out cards from the students (who are pointers to Jesus) to people in NYC. We have no idea how God will ultimately use the verses they picked out to place on their cards or the words they selected to communicate a message about Jesus. But if God can use to pagan, unbelieving, self-seeking, idol worshiping Midianite men to cause Gideon to worship the LORD, how much can He also use these dear students words to minister to the countless folks in NYC. This is our prayer – May the name of the LORD Jesus be glorified and may He be loved by all who hear and learn of Him.

“If Jesus Could Use Dirt, He Can Use You.”

Those words brought laughter to the nurses in Dr. Goldberg’s office today as they read a sweet card made just for Dr. Goldberg by one of Lynda’s students in 4-5th grade.

We had a wonderful visit with Dr. Goldberg (the doctor who discovered the sarcoma cancer in my body when he operated on me about 6 weeks ago to take out a cyst and who may have been the very first in this valley to have ever operated on this type of cancer in it’s specific location.)

Dr. Goldberg and assistants (Donna and Kathy) welcomed us into the office today and Lynda and I came bringing cards made, written and signed by the students in our classes. They were touched by the sweet cards and even humored by the sincerity and honesty of these dear students. And when they all opened the one card from one of the boys in Mrs. Redding’s class they could not help but chuckle at the truth. Dr. Goldberg said after hearing this portion of the card, “These young students have it figured out way before us adults.” And “Amen” to that Dr. Goldberg! So many times we want to study that dirt to see what was in it that made the blind man see or study what that Dr. did that made us well. And the whole time it is ultimately the Savior we should be studying and placing our complete hope in, while thanking Him for whatever or whoever He sees fit to use to do the healing. That is what the students in our school did today. They thanked the people involved in the mighty work of our Lord Jesus in brining about complete healing in Mr. Redding.

Yes, Jesus did use spit and dirt to heal a man born blind. And if He could use dirt and his spit to heal a man born blind, He can use a doctor with a wide variety of gifts given to him by the Lord Jesus to heal a broken or diseased body like mine.

Here is the story in contexts:

John 9:1-6 (NIV)
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Praise the Lord for the mighty healing hand of our LORD Jesus Christ who can choose whatever He wishes to heal men today. May we never forget or loose sight who really is the ultimate Healer - Our Mighty King and Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.

“We Are Praying For You.”

This morning I get a text from my dear sister in TX (Vicky) with Hebrews 7:25 included in her text. We are so thankful for what Hebrews 7:25 says -

Therefore He (Jesus) is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.(NKJV).

And then this morning I am reading to one of the 9th grade classes these verse:

Romans 8:26-28 - Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV)

You have to know, when a follower of Jesus texts, writes, says, calls emails (or any other way communicates) this message – “We are praying for you…” Lynda and my heart begins to sing and we are filled to over joy at the simple but extremely profound words (effect wise) – knowing you are going to the throne of our Great God and Creator of the Universe; The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who has no limits and can do what we could never imagine and what we will always say is “Impossible”. Then I read verse like those above.

All this time we have no idea of what to even say to God concerning ourselves or even others, but He graciously not only uses your prayers to accomplish His will but the Holy Spirit is taking what we are saying and making sense of it all to assure all will work out for good and to God’s glory. We have Jesus who suffers with us in every trial and devastating experience, who also is alive to make continued, non-stop, around the universal clock intercession for each and every one of us! Now if this doesn’t excite the soul, you may need to get off of that pain medication that I was on right after surgery (that stuff really kept all emotions and pain at bay). What a great Savior we have and what great Saints around us = like you who have been so faithful in baring his image to us when you say – “I am praying for you.” Or “We just prayed as a small group for you.” Or “Our Church is praying for you both and your family.” The Saints are baring the image of our Lord Jesus Christ to us – the One who always lives to make intercession for us.

“Thank you first and foremost, Lord Jesus, for all that you had done to make our trip to NY more than we could ever have imagined. We love You and all Your dear saints and will thank You eternally immensely and for Your love to us; For the saints and their love for us. We are glad that we will have all eternity to express our gratefulness to You, Lord Jesus, and to those who were so faithful to do Your will here on earth and to continue to point us to You, our precious Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen”

“Don’t tell anyone!” A Command Of Jesus That People Were Unable To Keep.

Well as soon as we arrived home on Friday, we sailed off to sleep and our sails have been at full mast since Friday. Sunday morning we are still in the sailing mode (which we are so thankful for and the Lord knew we needed this sleep for what He has prepared for us in the days to come.) During my devotions yesterday these verses came to mind after I read how the people who witnessed Jesus resurrected. They could not keep it a secret.

There were times when people who were healed by Jesus were told by the Savior not to tell anyone. It is interesting that everyone who Jesus said this to – well it was impossible for them to obey. These dear people, though this miraculous of healing had just blessed them greatly, could not keep the first command that was issued from our Lord’s mouth. “Do not tell anyone!”

I always found this intriguing and wonder today if Jesus said to us, “don’t tell anyone about Me”, if we would find this command impossible to keep or a command that we would say – “Ok, I will be fine not saying anything about You.”

Mat 8:4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. Mat 16:20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. Mar 7:36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published [it]; Mar 8:30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. Mar 9:9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. Luk 5:14 And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. Luk 8:56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done. Luk 9:21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded [them] to tell no man that thing; (All scripture from www.blueletterbible.org - KJV)

Well just as the people in His days found it impossible to stay silent. We too cannot be silent on what He has done for us. And now that we have a physical example of His healing hand in our life, it is easier to make the transition from what He did (Dr. and images can show and see) to what He continues to do (that no man can see with the eyes, but all men know it something that only God can deal with) in our lives when it comes to dealing with our sin and our walk with HIM.

“O, Lord Jesus, please have mercy on us when we find ourselves impatient in telling all who we come in contact with about all that You have and are doing in our lives. We do not mean to disobey You in anyway so please give us wisdom to say what we ought to say about Your great name. Never do we want to take Your name in vain wherever we go or end up. We truly are grateful and are in love with YOU Lord Jesus! Amen.”

The LORD Jesus has been with us the whole way.

Our words fall so short in expressing thanks to all of you who have faithfully called on the Lord Jesus to continue to work out things in our lives. He truly is faithful to His word as our Lord promised in Hebrews 13:5c – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (See also Gen. 28:15, Deut. 31:6,8 & Josh. 1:5). And with His promise to never leave us or forsake us comes great peace to our souls. (Philippians 4:6-9 – “peace of God”…”God of peace will be with you.”)

Today, I was reading from Matthew 27 (while I was rejoicing this morning again for the Lord being with us through this whole life of ours) and then I came across Matthew 27:46. Our Great and Mighty Suffering Son of God cried out with a loud voice from the cross these words (assuring us that we would never suffer in this manner); “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

God forsook Jesus, in order that even to this day, 12/2/11, we can flourish in the peace of God because He will never forsake us.

We are on our way back to AZ as I type this note. I cannot express the joy in my heart for what the Lord has done in and around us. Such gratitude swells up in our souls for the kindness and care given to us in our great trial thus far in life. Overwhelming amazement continues to captivate our minds as we think of all the saints who have called out to the Lord and how He used all of you to accomplish His great will which we are still discovering each and every day as we breath. We are rejoicing and exuberating over even the smallest of details being tightly wrapped up in His great and mighty hand.

And then we in the same great deep breath of all this that the Lord has done, exhale in deepest of sorrow what Jesus had to do for us to experience Him in the fullest. What a bitter sweet. What perplexing range of emotions?

“O, Lord Jesus, what do we say about You? How do we express Your great name? What do we say about You? How do we proclaim… You alone, O GOD, are Victorious! You alone, O GOD are great! You alone, O GOD are Marvelous! And You alone, O GOD know our names!”