Greg Laurie at Harvest Ministries recommend a great resource about the end times by Dallas Theological Seminary professor Mark Hitchcock. He's written a brand new book called The Revelation Answer Book, 125 Common Questions People Ask About Earth's Final Days. And guess what? We have a copy with your name on it.
So for your gift of any size, we will rush you your own copy of the Revelation Answer Book. Available at harvest.org. What do you see when you look in the mirror? We see our weaknesses, we see our flaws. But God sees potential.
Pastor Greg Laurie says, our view is limited and distorted. We see things through the lens of our pain and our past. We should trust God's perspective. I see a blank canvas, God sees a van Gogh. I see the past and I'm crippled by it.
God sees the future. I see a lump of coal. God sees a beautiful sparkling diamond. This is the Day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning.
Amazing grace down squeezes town. But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when I begin. Let's say you want to sell your car. You think it's worth about $10,000?
But right away, someone pays you $15,000.
Well so.
So what was your car worth?
Well, it was worth what the buyer was willing to pay. Today on the new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie brings some encouraging insights on our work. based on the one who purchased us with the blood of his only begotten son. And given our real worth, We'll see how the Lord has equipped us for real kingdom work. This is the day, the day when life begins.
I would like you all to grab your Bible and turn to the book of Judges. Judges chapter 6. And the title of my message is What to Do When the Odds are against you. This is our last message in our series on the book of Joshua. You might say, Well, Greg, you're in the book of Judges.
Did you make a mistake? No, because what we're about to read picks up. where Joshua leaves off. About 200 years later, we find out what happened to Israel when they didn't do what God told them to do in the book of Joshua. In our last message, we're seeing Joshua parcel out.
the land. the promised land that God gave to him and the Jewish people. And we remember old Caleb raising up his 85-year-old arm and saying, give me this mountain. But then we fast forward 200 years. and it's the year 1256 BC.
And they have not finished the job that they began. They did not drive all the Canaanites out, and they came to regret it. And you know, it's a funny thing, but you think about this, Israel was fighting for their survival in the book. of judges and they're fighting for their survival right now. before our very eyes.
This fight for their survival is nothing new to Israel.
So here we are reading the ancient book of Judges. Because they did not drive out all of the inhabitants of the land, they left a few. This came back to haunt them later.
Sort of like if you had a big tree in your backyard that was tearing everything up, so you cut the tree down, but you don't tear up the roots. It comes back later to cause problems. This is what's happening to Israel. They drove out the Canaanites and the Amorites and the Hittites. And the Ammonites and the Parasites and every it, but there was one force.
now that's in power called the Midianites. The Midianites have Israel under their thumb. Why did God allow this to happen? It was his discipline on Israel. According to Judges, it says, Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, so he handed them over to the Midianites.
Little footnote. The Minianites are the first nation to domesticate the camel. Have you ever looked at a camel? What a weird creature. There's many beautiful animals that the Lord has made.
The camel is not one of them. I've heard it said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Right, it's just a very strange animal with the But they're actually very uh powerful and effective animals in warfare. They're big. They can move fast, they can go days without water, they're ugly.
And they spit too. I don't have a lot of experience with camels, but over in Israel I've climbed up on one and Ridden it around a little bit. And so here's what the Israelites are dealing with. They look over the hill, and here come the Midianites on camels. uh controlling them and they're living in despair.
and they're crying out to God and the Lord says in Jeremiah 33 3 call to me and I will answer you Now God's going to answer their prayer. And he's going to answer it by choosing a man. Named Gideon. to be the answer to the prayers of the people. I don't know why God chose Gideon.
I certainly don't know why God chose me. But I know this, if I were God, I wouldn't choose any human being. Because we mess everything up, it seems. The Lord could just roll back the heavens and poke his face through and say, Hello, humanity, I'm God and you're not. But instead, the Lord chooses to reach people through people, ordinary, flawed people like you, and me, and Gideon.
So as our story begins, we find Gideon. preparing the little wheat that he had, hiding behind the walls of a small wine press. hardly a picture of heroism or courage. But this is the man that God chose.
So Judges 6, verse 12. We read this, the angel of the Lord appeared. and said to him, Mighty hero, The Lord is with you. Gideon said, O my Lord, If the Lord is with us, then why has all of this happened to us? And where are all of his miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, did not the Lord bring us from Egypt?
But now, Gideon says, the Lord has forsaken us. and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Then the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you will save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? We'll stop there.
Interesting response on the part of Gideon. The angel comes to him. Hey, you. Courageous man. You man of bravery, the Lord is with you.
He says, Well, if the Lord's with us, Then, why have these things happen to us? Where are all the miracles in days gone by? Heard the story of a mother who would read Bible stories to her little children. girl every night before bed. And she would hear the stories of David and Samson and Daniel and Ruth and Esther.
And she said one night to her mom, Mommy, it seemed like. God was much more exciting back then than he is now. And that's probably how Gideon felt. You did all these miracles for Israel. We heard about you delivering them from Egypt.
And when they entered the promised land, they marched around Jericho and the walls collapsed. And here we are being dominated by these Midianites riding these crazy camels. and we're hiding in fear. And God could have rebuked him. He could have said, hey man.
You brought this on yourself, but it's interesting the Lord didn't say that. You know, sometimes we find ourselves dealing with situations. That are a result of our own bad decisions. And then we have the audacity to blame God for it. You know, you might have a failing marriage.
Lord, why do I have a failing marriage? If you love me, you would not let my marriage fail. The Lord could say, maybe it has something to do with you being unfaithful to your spouse. Lord, why did I just get fired from my job and I was just fired from another job a month before that and fired from another job a week before that? Why did you allow this to happen?
The Lord could say, maybe it's because you're a horrible worker and you're lazy. You show up late, you leave early, and there is some cause and effect here.
So God could have said, you brought this on yourself, Gideon, you and the Israelites. But instead, the Lord didn't say that. He said, Just go with the strength you have. and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I'm sending you.
In other words, Gideon, we don't have time to get into that right now. It'll take too long. Here's the battle plan. I'm going to bring a solution. And I'm going to make Things different, and I'm going to do it through you.
But Gideon isn't seeing it. He says in verse 15, Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I'm the least in my father's house. Another translation puts it this way, I'm the runt of the litter. I'm the lowest of the low.
That's how he felt. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hearing from listeners who've been touched by Pastor Greg's messages. is very encouraging to us. Pastor Greg, I've been listening to you since 1992 when I was 25 years old.
You led me to Christ when I was driving to Black Mountain, North Carolina, and I'll never forget what you said that day. You're either for Jesus. or against him. You can't straddle the fence.
Well, I was definitely straddling the fence of my life at the time. But not anymore. Thank you so much for your faithfulness to God. You changed my life forever. If you have a story to share, Why not call us and tell us about it?
Here's the number. one eight six six eight seven one one one four four Again, 866-871-1144.
Well, Pastor Greg is presenting a study in Judges today. The Lord has come to Gideon with an assignment. but Gideon is wondering if he's the right one for the job. Let's continue. And now we see some very interesting principles on the kind of man or woman that God will use.
If you're taking notes, here's point number one. God uses people who are humble. God uses people who are humble. They're not proud. They're not arrogant.
They see themselves for what they are. God tells Gideon what he's going to do through him. In verse 15, Gideon says, Who am I? The Lord effectively says, Doesn't matter who you are. The real question is, who am I?
Listen, buddy, it's me working through you. The Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord is searching throughout the earth for a man or a woman that he can show himself strong on behalf of. It doesn't say he's searching for a strong man or a strong woman. He's looking for someone that will just admit their weakness and their vulnerability, but will say, Here I am, Lord, send me. Because I've often said, God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
He can do extraordinary things through ordinary people. And it would appear as you look at the people that God selects in the pages of scripture that he goes out of his way to choose the most unlikely people. Why do you think that is? Answer: He wants to get. The glory.
I mean, this is shown in what he says to Gideon. Verse 12, mighty hero, the Lord is with you. It almost sounds like mockery. Mighty hero! It'd be like going to an F student and saying, hey, Einstein.
Yeah. Or going to a kid that can't throw a football. Hey, Tom Brady. Hardly Tom Brady there. But God sees you for what you can become.
See, I see what I am. God sees what I can be. What do you see when you look in the mirror? Well, Depends on what kind of mirror. If it's a magnifying mirror, you're probably somewhat horrified.
I was holding my little niece the other day, newborn baby. She's so sweet. And I was just amazed at her skin. The the skin of the baby. And you look at your own skin.
I just had a visit with my dermatologist and you know that that's not a pleasant experience. And so We see our weaknesses. We see our flaws. It's been said mirrors don't lie. Lucky for you, they don't laugh either.
So I look in the mirror. And I see weakness. But God sees potential. I see what I am. God sees what I can be.
I see the past and I'm crippled by it. God sees the future. I see a lump of clay. God sees a beautiful sculpture. I see a blank canvas.
God sees a Van Gogh. I see a lump of coal. God sees a beautiful sparkling diamond. I see a persecuting Saul of Tarsus. God sees a mighty apostle called Paul.
God sees what you can become. I love the story of when Jesus went to the woman caught in the act of adultery. after he dismissed her accusers. He turned to her. And he said, Woman, where are your accusers?
She said, I have none, Lord. He said, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. But it's interesting the word that Jesus used for this woman caught in the act. of sexual sin.
He called her. woman or we might translate it lady or even ma'am. It's a term of respect. Ma'am, lady? She'd been called a lot of things.
I don't think anyone had ever called her lady before. She wasn't behaving as a lady at that time. But Jesus didn't just see her for what she was. He saw her for what she would become, you see. The same with Gideon.
You man of valor, you man of courage, you're a hero. Gideon just saw A zero.
Now a series of tests come to Gideon. To prepare him for what he is about to do. The first test happened in his home. The Lord said, Okay. Here's what I want you to do.
I want you to go home. And your dad, Joash, built an altar to Baal, a false god. I want you to tear it down. Gideon's like, ugh.
Okay, you know, but he loved his dad, he respected his father. Obviously, this is going to cause a lot of tension to tear down his father's altar to Baal. But he does it. But he does it at night because he was afraid of what his father would think. He was afraid of what the people would think.
He did tear the altar down. But he did it at night, bringing me to principle number two: if you want to be used by God, you need to be faithful in the little things. Be faithful in the little things. God gave him a little test. A bigger one was coming.
Here's a little test. Just go take care of this. Tear down that altar. Listen to this. God calls busy people.
It's been said if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. And you see that so often when the Lord called people, they were doing something. Gideon is threshing wheat. Elisha was plowing a field when he was called by Elijah. The apostles to be were mending nets when Jesus called them.
David was tending sheep.
So, the idea is they're just doing what's in front of them. They're willing to do whatever needs to be done. Listen, you're never. Too small for God to use, only too big. If you will say, Lord, I'll do whatever needs to be done, I'll volunteer here.
You will be amazed at how the Lord will bless you and give you more opportunities. Jesus said, if you're unfaithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibility.
So be faithful in the little things.
Now, Coming back to what Gideon did, he tore this altar down, but he did it at night.
Some have criticized him. Why didn't he do it in broad daylight?
Well, because he was afraid. But at least he did it. I'd rather do something imperfectly than do nothing. It's so easy to critique people, you know, when we. Started this church, I have to be honest with you, we had no idea what we were doing.
Who really didn't? I was 20 years old. I'd only been a Christian three years. But we took bold steps of faith and we said, let's see what the Lord will do. Did we do everything perfectly?
Of course not. But we learn from our mistakes. And we've been able to see the Lord do some amazing things over the years, but we've always had our critics. I remember when we started our evangelistic crusades, people said, oh, that's not going to work. Crusade evangelism died with Billy Graham.
And then, when Billy started his evangelistic ministry, they said to him, This isn't going to work. Crusade evangelism died with Billy Sunday, another evangelist. And when Billy Sunday started his ministry, they said, It's not going to work because Crusade evangelism died with D.L. Moody. See, it's a no, crusade evangelism or evangelism in general will never die because God will always raise up someone to do it, someone to preach the gospel.
But people will push back.
Well, I don't like the way you do this, or I don't like the way you do that, or it's not going to work here and it's not going to work there. And we just kept going to new places and seeing the Lord work. I heard the story of. Speaking of Dio Modi, a lady who came to him. He said, Mr.
Moody, I don't like the way you do evangelism. And Moody said, Well, ma'am, I'm always willing to learn something new. Tell me how you do evangelism. She said, I don't. He said, well, I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.
Right?
So, yeah, maybe Gideon didn't do this perfectly. He did it at night, but at least. He did it.
Now, here's what's interesting: after his dad found out, he was kind of proud of his boy. The people in the city were so angry, kill this guy, he tore down this altar. His father Josh says, well, do you have to defend Baal now? Can Baal defend himself? And it seems like Joash sees the stupidity of worshiping a false god, and he defends his son.
And I love how it starts in the home of Gideon. Listen to this: the hardest people to reach are your own family. The hardest. your family. We read that Jesus did not do many mighty works in his hometown of Nazareth because of the unbelief of his people.
Jesus himself said, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country. It's hard to reach your family. And think about Jesus. Who was a better example than Jesus? He was the perfect son.
Never disrespectful, always finished every job he set his hand to. Just absolute perfection, the only perfect man had ever lived on this earth. Imagine being one of the siblings of Jesus. And yes, Jesus did have brothers and sisters. And they didn't believe in him until later.
And who was a better example than Jesus? Can you imagine Mary lecturing her kids? Kids, why can't you be more like your big brother Jesus? But mommy's like perfect. I know.
But try to follow his example. Joseph made a little bracelet for you to wear. in his workshop. WWJD. Wear this.
What would Jesus do? Come on, mom. He's a hard act to follow. They didn't believe in Jesus until he was crucified and resurrected from the dead. But he was a perfect example.
But it's hard to reach your family. I think of my own mother, it took years for her to come around. Here I was in ministry and leading people to Christ, and my own mom was not a believer. And it was so challenging, and it wasn't until. The age of 70, she made A recommitment to the Lord, and sadly, she died not long after that.
But I'm so glad she did make that recommitment. But uh Gideon took a stand in his home for God. Good insights today from Pastor Greg Laurie about the mighty man of valor named Gideon. And there's a lot more to the story as this message continues here on a new beginning. Pastor Greg just talked about the importance of making a commitment to the Lord, asking Him to forgive our sins and asking Him into our lives.
Have you ever done that? Pastor Gregg, no matter what a person has done, they can come to the Lord today. Can't they? That's right. The Bible says, whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
So think of it this way. Maybe you're out in a riptide in the ocean and you can't get your footing and you're in trouble and you see a lifeguard. Call out for help and the lifeguard will rescue you. The same is true spiritually. You're drowning in your sin.
You need help. Jesus will save you. He will rescue you, but you must call out to him. And you know how you do that? You do it in prayer.
So let me just lead you in a simple prayer, and you can pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you'd like. And this is where you are calling out to Jesus to save you. Just pray this: Lord Jesus. I know I'm a sinner.
And I know you are the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin? and rose again from the dead.
Now, Lord, I turn from my sin, and I put my faith in you. Be my Savior, my Lord, be my God and my friend. I choose to follow you. From this moment forward. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen. Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want you to know that Christ himself has come to live inside of you. And I have a resource I want to send you. It's called the New Believers Bible.
So, the New Believers Bible is the New Testament in the New Living Translation with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you are making to follow Christ. There's some other materials included as well in what we call the New Believers Growth Pact. But let me get this New Believer's Bible into your hands as quickly as possible. Here's Dave to tell you more. Yeah, we'll be glad to send it all your way, free of any charge, if you prayed along with Pastor Greg today.
Just ask for the New Believer's Bible. when you call one eight hundred eight two one thirty three hundred. You can reach us any time, 24-7, at 1-800-821-3300. or write a new beginning box four thousand riverside california nine two five one four or go online to harvest.org and click No God. And then, thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue.
Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online, you'll find us at harvest.org. And there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now.
That's harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning Box 4000. Riverside, California, 92514. or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call again at 1-800-821-2.
Yeah. Well, next time, more insights from the Bible's mention of Gideon. and what we can learn from this humble man of valor. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Craig Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
