Wed.’s Clothed in Power - Devo

Read: Judges 6:1-40; Luke 22:54-23:12; Psalm 95:1-96:13; Prover s 14:5-6 The people of Israel fell back into idolatry so God handed them over to the cruel Midianites for 7 years. They were so oppressive that the Israelites had to hide in strongholds in the caves and in the mountains. Every time their crops would be ready for harvesting, the raiders from Midian, Amelek and the people of the east would come and raid their harvest. *** Israel cried out to the Lord and he sent an angel to Gideon. He found Gideon threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress. He was hiding, hoping to harvest his wheat so that the raiders couldn’t see him. The angel addressed him as a mighty man of valor. Gideon didn’t feel close to being a mighty man of valor. The angel told him what he saw in him because God was going to make him that. God sees us the same way. He sees what we are destined to become and calls us that. It is our choice to let God become that in us. *** Gideon knew the wonderful things God had done for his people in the past and questioned why all this had happened to them. The angel didn’t address their sin but told Gideon that he was chosen to deliver the people and God would be with him. *** The angel of the Lord told Gideon that it would be like he was only fighting one man. Gideon asks for a sign and the angel was happy to give him one. (It would be like asking to see a lawman’s badge just to know that they were legit.) Gideon prepared a sacrifice and the Lord consumed it with fire from heaven. Gideon knew then that this was from God and was overwhelmed with the fear of the Lord. He was so convicted, he built an altar to the Lord and offered a bull that was his father’s. This bull was seven years old - as old as their rebellion had been. He cut down the altar to Baal and the Ashterah pole of his father’s. “Gideon” means “cutter downer”. *** The next morning when the people saw that the altar to Baal had been replaced by an altar to the Lord, they were not happy. They demanded that Gideon’s father give his son over to them to punish him. He told them to let Baal defend himself if he was a god. *** The three enemies formed an alliance against Israel and crossed to Jordan together. The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power. (What a statement!) He blew the ram’s horn to call the tribes to war and sent messengers to the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali which were the ones the closest in proximity. *** Gideon still needed confirmation so he asked for two more signs with the fleece and the dew and God answered both of them. God is not upset when we need confirmation. He is the God of signs and wonders. That is his language. *** In Luke, Peter denied Jesus three times while Pilate could find no reason to condemn him. The haters mocked and abused Jesus. The only thing that Jesus said was “You say that I am.” He agreed with what was true but only if they said it. *** Pilate feared God enough to not want to be the one to condemn him. He sent him to Herod Antipas who only wanted to see Jesus do a miracle. Jesus had nothing to say to him so he sent him back to Pilate. *** How different Gideon and Pilate was. Gideon’s heart was sincere, so God gave him sign after sign. Pilate wanted to be entertained by Jesus and received nothing. *** Lord, we ask for your Holy Spirit to clothe us with his power and be obvious in our lives. May we know the signs that you give us everyday and interpret the rightly. Thank you for your Word which is a light to our path.