Category: Devotionals

When God created man in the very beginning, one of the major purposes mentioned according to Genesis 1:28 is fruitfulness. This means that it is the will of God that everyone is fruitful in all areas, because it is the sole purpose of man. The goal of fruitfulness is to replenish the earth, i.e.  to take charge, influence and govern the earth. What does this mean? It means that fruitfulness is the way through which we can transform the world for Jesus. By producing godly seeds, by producing godly traits and attitudes, by speaking godly words and living godly lives. We begin to influence the world for Christ. This is being fruitful.

As we live on earth and shine God’s light to the world, there is every tendency for people to see that light and paint us as extraordinary men who have done great things. This was the situation Gideon experienced in Judges 8. In Acts 14:11-13, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas were even called gods when the people saw the works of their hands in Lystra. In many other situations we have seen people ascribe to men the glory of the things they have seen through them.

When Gideon and his three hundred men stood against the mighty Midianite army, they didn’t lift a sword in the first phase of the battle. Instead, they simply obeyed God’s unusual instructions: blow the trumpets, break the jars, and shout. At that moment, the Lord Himself caused confusion in the enemy’s camp, and the Midianites turned their swords against one another. By the time Israel advanced, their enemy was already defeated.

When God created man, one of the mandates of man is that He replenishes the earth, and the only way to do that is by being fruitful. This fruitfulness comes by putting to work all that is inside of man, and maximising the presence of God in our life. Now, we concluded yesterday that there is God’s part to play, but there is also man’s part to play in the fulfillment of the promises of God. 

Yesterday, we looked at how God chose to save Israel by three hundred men, and His choice of men was so that no man could glory in himself. God indeed was the one who got the victory. But, even though God has given the victory, and He is the one who is worthy of the glory of the victory, we as men still have a very important part to play in the implementation of God’s victory.

Yesterday, we saw that fear is never the way of God, but He only uses and works through those who hold unto Him by faith. Therefore, we must reject every suggestion of fear and hold unto faith in Christ Jesus. So, after Gideon had sent the fearful packing. God still moved further with other credentials to reduce the population to three hundred. How did he do that?

Yesterday, we saw that God wants to take the glory over every situation in our lives, and is not pleased when anyone takes it. So, in this victory over the Midianites, God told Gideon to reduce the men because He wants it to be evident that it was not by the help of man but by the help of God that victory was received. The problem here now is that, “How was Gideon going to select His few men to go to battle with him?” 

Gideon has decided to heed the calling of God and lead Israel to deliverance from the Midianites. He had pulled a lot of crowd to himself to achieve this vision, as he must have thought that he needed the crowd to overcome the numbers the Midianites had. It is just common sense, if he had enough people, they should at least be able to go to battle with the Midianites. Unknown to him that the ways of God are different.

Yesterday we saw how Gideon was asking questions on the evidence of God’s presence. And we saw that God’s presence on its own does not guarantee anything yet, until we engage His presence adequately. The beautiful thing here is the Angel’s response to Gideon. He didn’t even answer his question. Someone might wonder how his response answers Gideon’s question about the presence of God.

Yesterday, we saw that God is with us at all times, and He wants us to be aware that He is with us. We must become more aware of His presence and maximise His presence in our lives daily. But, Gideon heard this same statement that God is with him, but he had a different reaction, just like many of us must have heard several times. Gideon asked the angel for proof that God is with him. He asked about the miracles the fathers spoke about, he wanted physical evidence of God’s presence.