Karen S.

Q3. (Judges 6:12-16) How did God see Gideon? How did Gideon see himself? Whose self-perception is most accurate? How can our own self-perception prevent us from becoming what God has made us to be? What is God's answer to Gideon's self-image? What might be an appropriate prayer to pray in light of what God has taught you from this passage God saw Gideon as a mighty warrrior and a person that He could use to further His kingdom. Gideon felt weak and unprepared for the task at hand. Of course, God's perception is always more accurate -- after all, He made us. God knows what gifts and talents we were given so Gideon, just like us, should trust in what God sees in him. God will never ask us to do something that we can't. We just must be careful to know when God is speaking and when we are acting on our own accord without God. The best way to be able to discern God's voice is to stay connected to Him through reading the Bible, prayer, and remaining in community with other Christians. My prayer is that God will continue to lead me into the path that He wants for me rather than what I want to do.

God has delivered the people of Israel from Egypt and told them to not to worship the gods of the Amorites. He reminded them that He was their God but they didn't listen to Him and worshipped other gods. God understands that we cannot completely worship him if we have other idols that we worship. Without full commitment to God, the people of Israel (and ourselves) can never have the full blessings of God.

Good point that disobedience allows sin and Satan to grab a foothold in our lives.

Gideon thinks that because he is having problems and his people are experiencing problems that it's God's fault. Gideon also believes that God has abandoned them. What he does not understand is that his people were blessed but they disobeyed God and are experiencing consequences of their disobedience. Disobedience to God creates estrangement from God and prohibits any blessings that might be bestowed on us. In order to experience the full blessings of God and a relationship with God, we must be obedient. The tendency for human beings is to blame someone else for their problems rather than take responsibility for them.

Hi, I'm Karen and live in the Charlotte, NC, area. My husband and I attend a non-denominational church at a movie theater where the pastor is a converted Muslim. In the last couple of years, my desire to establish a closer relationship to God has grown tremendously. Although I have attended church since a child, I have somehow missed a lot of Biblical knowledge that I want now in my journey to the closer relationship with God. I look forward to this study as one more step.