Monday, February 1, 2016

OT DAY 435 - God Has No Difficult Winning A War with Just A Couple of Guys (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

         Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
               let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
           Let them praise his name with dancing,
               making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
           For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
               he adorns the humble with salvation.

           
                    Psalm 149:2-4

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (1 Samuel 14:1-23)


       
       Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” 11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” 12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” 13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. 14 And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land. 
                                                                 1   Samuel 14: 6-14


Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

My Listening

          This is one of the most wonderful stories in the Bible. Just two guys to win a big warfare. If you read the whole passage today from verse 1 to 23, you know that it was done! That two guys created great fear of the Philistines and gave courage to the Israelites to win greatly!

Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 
    
           The reality is that God has no difficulty giving Israel deliverance by means of a large army unit or just a couple of guys. Gideon's story in Judges 6-7 shows as much. Strange things happen in war, and you can sometimes see God behind the way they work out.   
          
John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.71.




         If you think that you are not important and you can't do much for God, you are wrong! If God can make Jonathan to receive an idea with just one guy who was his armor-bearer followed, God can raise you up to be a "Jonathan" to lead a God size plan, or you can be the guy supporting just one God's servant to do a God size plan!
         Are you willing to be used by God in this kind of way? 
        Jesus reminds me now of all those brothers and sisters who come daily to our Prayer Meeting, Monday through Friday 6:30a.m. to 7:30a.m., Saturday 8a.m. to 9:30a.m. and Sunday 7:30a.m. to 8:30a.m. Not many, but we have more than two guys! Let's win a big warfare for God to help our church to taste the sweetness of unity. That's the biggest warfare every church has for the past two thousand years according to John 17. Satan's major plan is to divide a family, a church, a society, a nation and the whole world. Our major role is to bring UNITY to our family, our church, our society, our nation and the whole world!

Dear Lord Jesus, 
    Help us to know that we are important and lead us to follow your servants to fight a good fight for you to reclaim unity in all areas.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect on these questions:
    1. How does Jonathan's courage and idea inspire you?

2. In what way do you think you need to do in order to fight a good fight for God?

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?


Today's Time with Abba daily reading:




Photos of my copying the Bible today using Time with Abba passages 






Photo of today 6:30a.m. Copying Bible to pray and 7a.m. Prayer Meeting








Praise and Thanksgiving
10,000 Reasons

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眷顧有需要的,主會搭救你,為你鋪牀!

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