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ACTS 29 TODAY

COMING TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH

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Ok last time we finished up on the love of self and saw in the story of Gideon that GOD tested his Army (remember its so important to let GOD CHOOSE THOSE WHO WILL B ON YOUR TEAM) and the FEARFUL AND TREMBLING, AND THE SELFISH WERE SENT HOME to watch the great victory of Gideon on the 10 o clock news. (these 2 kinds of people will NOT BE IN GODS END TIME ARMY).

The Angel of the Lord was sent to find a man to take part in a GOD POWERED IMPOSSIBLE IN MANS EYES PROJECT. Natural man always picks the best qualified man, whereas GOD always qualifies the man He picks to best show GODS power.

So Gideon is visited by the Angel while hiding in a wine press beating some wheat to get some grains of food.

THE 1ST THING IN THE WHOLE PROCESS OF GIDEON’S TRANSFORMATION FROM HIDING TO HERO IS…………...IDENTITY, GOD HAS TO GET GIDEON UP TO SPEED ON WHO HE REALLY IS IN GODS EYES, AND IT WILL B THE SAME FOR US ALSO.

^{Numbers  6:11} Now the ^[a]Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the wine press [instead of the threshing floor] to [hide it and] save it from the Midianites. ¹² And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The

Lord is with you, O brave man.” ¹³ But Gideon said to him, “Please my lord, if the

Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous works which our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the

hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” ¹⁵ But Gideon

said to Him, “Please Lord, how am I to rescue Israel? Behold, my family is the least [significant] in Manasseh, and I am the youngest (smallest) in my father’s house.” ¹⁶ The Lord

answered him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as [if they were only] one man.” ¹⁷ Gideon replied to Him, “If I have

found any favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speaks with me. ¹⁸ Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring my offering and place it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you return.”

One translation says, the LORD is with you…YOU MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR…..and at hearing this Gideon goes off in a thing about if GOD is with us then why is all of this stuff happening to us, because what hes really thinking is ……MIGHTY MAN OF

VALOR…..WHO IS THIS GUY TALKING TO…..IS THERE SOMEONE ELSE HERE I

DON’T SEE, I THINK THIS GUY HAS THE WRONG TREE ( ADDRESS)…….BECAUSE

THERE IS……. FOR SURE, NO… MIGHTY MAN….. OF VALOR HERE.

WAIT….WHAT….

Identity is so so very important, because we tend to live up to the standard of who we believe we are , and that identity is also greatly effected by what others think we are and what they say about us.

Words are CONTAINERS, they build us up, or they tear us down, bring in fear, or bring in faith, encourage us or bring depression, bring in love or bring in hate.

there is a CHILDREN’S RHYME that says…STICKS AND STONES MAY BREAK MY BONES….BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME.

Nothing could B further from the truth, words can KILL YOU. And we have all had to deal with certain words spoken to and over us, and it is important to break off every word that was spoken against us, but that is for a different time.

One thing about GOD that I have noticed is….He does not waste words or get off message. He comes directly to the point and never gets sidetracked, no matter what we might say, He just keeps on with His message. So no matter what Gideon’s excuses are (and He had many, and so do we) the Angels message is just the same on going theme, THE LORD IS WITH YOU, YOU MIGHTY MAN AND YOU WILL DEFEAT THE Midianites AS ONE MAN.

So the 1st thing GOD does is start off with getting Gideon’s IDENTITY RIGHT, BECAUSE IF WE, OR GIDEON, DON’T KNOW….WHO WE ARE…THEN IT WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT TO COMPLETE THE TASK SET BEFORE US.

Gideon has to come to the place where he believes he is….THAT MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR……THEN HE WILL ACT LIKE THAT MAN, but at this point he is not buying it at all.

next time we will go on in this wonderful picture of Gideon’s transformation.

and remember GODS NOT LOOKING FOR…..MINI-STARS…HES LOOKING FOR MINISTERS.

Ambassador Larry