Shalom Dear Brothers and Sisters Gideon's Fleece I've heard many different sermons on this subject, most of them focused on Gideon's lack of faith. But that's not what I see here. What I see here is the beginning of a relationship built on trust, confidence and assurance! Gideon is now fully aware that he is not dealing with just an "Angel of the Lord" but with God Himself! He wants to make sure that everything he does is truly ordained of God and he is not stepping out ahead of Him without clear direction. He puts a fleece before the Lord and the Lord honors his fleece. Then he asks for confirmation and asked the Lord to bear with him and give him another sign. Now God doesn't get upset and say well if you don't believe me I'll find somebody else to do it, no, instead He honors Gideon and his request and confirms His Word that He will use Gideon to save Israel against their enemies. I think many times it would do us well when we believe we have heard from a Lord that He asks us to do something that we take the time to be sure that it is of Him. If it is of the Lord He will confirm His Word to us. Many times I know the Lord has asked me to do something and I've just gone ahead and done it the way I think it should be done. Instead of taking the time to confirm that this was truly from the Lord and then seeking him as to how to handle the situation, I would have been much wiser. There are also times when we need to get out of situations we are in and we take on burdens that we are never meant to take While my heart may have been in the right place at the time sometimes the flesh gets in there as well. The flesh fights against the Spirit of God. Even Paul said it, I do the things I wish I did not do and I do not do the things I wish I did (Romans 7:15-25). Paul goes into great depth explaining how the struggle goes on inside of him and if it goes on inside of him, you can bet we to have the same struggles at least I know I do. That's why, when I read about Gideon's fleece I realize what a good thing it is we can learn from these things. I think the Lord honors questions more than when we don't ask and just run ahead and do things without His clear instructions and involvement. You see as I will share in the next letter, it is imperative that God receives the glory in all things and in all ways in our lives. It is He changing us from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18) by the power of His Holy Spirit. If we allow Him to so, then we will be more like Him. I must sound like a broken record but if we do take the time to seek the Lord in all things spend time in His word developing that one-on-one relationship, He will teach us by the power of his Holy Spirit.
B'Shem Yeshua Hamashiach, Amen In His Love, Theresa
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