Pastor Ralph Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Ralph Posted January 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 What is God's answer to Gideon's self-image? (Judges 6:16) Does this spiritual principle apply to our lives as Christians? Can you recall any New Testament passages that teach the same principle? What is an appropriate prayer to pray in light of what God has taught you from this passage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara Momphard Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 God saw Gideon as a mighty warrier. God Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara Momphard Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 God said, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omie Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 God knows us, and knew Gideon had the capability to become a great soldier. God promised Gideon that He would be with Him all the way! Gideon did not know his own strengths and felt he was the weakest in a weak family. He questions that God about this. Our self perception is often false, it is only when we try that we will be able to step out to do whatever is needed. With God's help we are stronger and more capable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omie Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 As Gideon tries to explain that he is not up to the task God asks of him, God replies in no uncertain terms that Gideon will have God as a partner in this project to deliver the Israelites just as Moses had. To Gideon this must have had a fearful impact, as he still sees his tribe (family) and himself as too weak to do anything. In 6:3 we read where their country was invaded time and again, with great destruction. How fearful the thought of going into battle against this hoard of people must have been. I would have felt all the same fears Gideon does. Barbara Momphard, above, has answered this with one I would have chosen, such as Phillippians 4:13. I have no more faith then Gideon; will God really be with me? The God in the OT has this magnificient glory and He appears to people in the roles of angels, etc... I have a problem knowing when God wants me to step out and do something. My Prayer: Lord search me and show me the strengths I have. Help me to find You in my life's struggles. Take my doubts and fears and use them to Your purpose. In your son's name, Amen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 God saw Gideon as a mighty warrior but Gideon himself felt he was weak and of no use or value. On the other hand God knew that with faith in Him Gideon was capable of being a mighty warrior. We can all be modest when we feel that we are not worthy to carry out a duty that we feel that God is asking of us. We then make every excuse we can think of for not doing his will and we forget the important factor that everything is possible with God. However we need to have faith in God's capabilities within our own lives if we are ever to grow in our relationship with God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Beckner Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 I think that the reason that God called Gideon a mighty warrior [He knows us better than we know ourselves] is because of Gideon's humbleness. In verse 15 Gideon says that he is the least of the least......that is a person who is not going to try and take control of the plan....he knows that God's plan is best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Huang Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God saw Gideon as a mighty warriior. This was in contrast with the image Gideon had of himself as the weakest member of the family of the Manesseh tribe. Our own self-perception may prevent us from doing great things which God may want us to do. So we must step out in faith that the Lord will be with us in any venture that He has entrusted us with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Huang Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God answered Gideon by saying that He will be with Gideon and together they will strike down the Midianites. This spiritual principle applies to our lives as christians as we all have low self images and need the Lord's strength in all that we do. Heavenly Father help us as we seek to do your work and gives us the strength to follow you and obey your commandments Amen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judie Suda Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 I love God's answer to Gideon's weak self-image- He said: " I WILL be with you and you WILL strike down ALL the Midianites together." This spiritual principle applies to our lives - We CAN do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us!" (Phil 4:13) The CAPS speak for themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God saw Gideon as "mighty warrior". Gideon was humble enough to consider himself the weakest of the weak. He had a worldly perception of himself. But God is Almighty, capable of making any one mighty. However at first Gideon didn't realized that God was speaking to him. God said to Gideon that He will be with him and gave strong suggestive assertiveness that Gideon will be able to srike down the Medianites all together. Prayer: Almighty God, help me to recognize what You want me to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Prayer: Almighty God, help me to recognize what You want me to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kats Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God saw Gideon as a warrior.... a "mighty warrior" with alot of strength. Gideon states that his clan is the weakest, and he is also the weakest in the eyes of his family. He has a very low opinion of himself and low self-esteem. He forgets that with God by his side, he can do whatever God wants him to do. I can do all things through Christ who strenthens me. Kats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kats Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God tells Gideon, "I will be with you (in strength), and you will strike down all the Midianites together." I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Lord, show me what you would have me do. Kats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggie Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God saw Gideon as a mighty warrior, while Gideon saw himself as the least of his family. This is much the way David started out, as a shepherd boy. God however saw him as a king. Such great things happen in our lives when we truly seek God, for He promises that He does not have plans to harm us, but to prosper us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggie Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God promises Gideon that HE will be with him. In our lives today, the enemy would have us believe that we are of not worth to God, giving us a poor self imagage which keeps us from totally trusting that God does indeed have a plan for all of us that involves His Kingdom. When we truly seek God, He directs us right where He wants us. Lately, I've been praying for another Christian, my daughter, and for myself that we would all recognize what God is trying to show us. I praise Him for directing me to this study!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Fetzer Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God saw Gideon as a mighty man of valor and Gideon saw himself as a weak man. We need to put our whole selves in Gods' hands and He will make us what He wants us to be. Often times God uses the weakest things to bring His Glory. We sometimes make ourselves weak just to get out of doing things because of just being pure lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Fetzer Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me!! Dear God please forgive me for not trusting in you in all things and that You will bring me through all my problems and fears. Please keep me strong in my wlak with you. To keep my eyes upon you and not the circumstances around me. Amen. We have a plague that says, The will of God will not take you where the grace of God cannot keep you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff B Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Mighty warrior was not how Gideon saw himself, as he was down in his hole in the ground threshing wheat. I wonder if God waited for a moment when Gideon was really low to say these words. Gideon wasn't a mighty warrior, but he started becoming one when he believed God's word, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?' For Gideon, he started becoming a mighty warrior when he began to get hold of a bigger picture of who God is. May the same happen to us as we do this study! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Woodhull Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 3. Unlike how Gideon saw himself, God saw him in the near future as a "mighty warrior" at war against his enemy. Of course, God's perception of Gideon is the most accurate because God saw him not as he was hiding from his enemies but in the near future as he fought against them as a mighty warrior. When we view our own self-perception of ourselves as being inferior and not in God's love as God views us, then our own self-perception becomes inferior to His and we won't be all that God wants us to be because of our faulty view of our God and of ourselves. But if we look to God and believe, through His Word, what tremendous things He says about us as His children, and seek to see Him and His Holy Spirit work in our lives, then we will be all that He wants us to be and will be able to say, as did the Apostle Paul, that we have "fought the good fight, we have finished the race, we have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Woodhull Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 4. God's answer to Gideon's self-image was that his was faulty and inferior to God's because God saw him as a mighty warrior who would be successful in striking down his enemy, the Midianites, and all at one time in one mighty battle against them. Yes, when we trust in the Lord Jesus as we go to battle against the enemy, then the Lord will provide us with tremendous victories in our lives, but when we think that we can go to battle in our own strength and power, then the enemy of our souls will defeat us. He has given us who believe and trust in Him a way to escape temptation and to be victorious over it (1 Cor. 10:13) as well as His spiritual armor to fight the tempter (Satan) and to be victorious over him by prayers and supplications to the Lord for His help and strength in Him (see Ephesians 6:10-18). An appropriate prayer would be to daily ask the Lord God for His strength and direction for my life no matter what situation or thing I am going through at the time, whether good or bad, always seek Him and His will for my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gail m Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 God saw Gideon as a warrior and Gideon saw himself as someone weak. Of course God's perception is more accurate, because few people see themselves as they truely are. We tend to let ourselves be pigeon-holed into a roll..To be what others perceive us to be rather than what we were meant to be. Perhaps it is easier to play that roll than it is to put ourselves out there unsure of how people will react to us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gail m Posted January 13, 2003 Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 God answered Gideon by telling him that he would be with him. This principle applies to our everyday lives..God does let us know he is with us, we just have make sure we pay attention and hear it... Luke 11:28 Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. PRAYER: Lord please give me the strength and wisdom to be the person you want me to be. Amen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KITTY MILLS Posted January 13, 2003 Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 GOD SAW GIDEON AS HE WOULD BE WITH HIM TO GUIDE AND DIRECT HIM. WE TEND TO SEE OURSELVES WITH ALL OUR FLAWS AND IMPERFECTIONS. WE THEN BECOME PARALYZED IN OUR USEFULNESS TO THE KINGDOM AND GOD'S PURPOSES FOR OUR LIVES. WHEN WE SEE OURSELVES AS GOD SEES US, WE CAN BECOME PROSPEROUS FOR THE KINGDOM. THE ENEMY OF OUR SOULS WANTS US TO SEE OURSELVES AS WITH NO VALUE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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