Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Listening To God” – Wednesday, 24 September 2014 - Scripture: Judges 6:1-12

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Listening To God” – Wednesday, 24 September 2014 - Scripture: Judges 6: Gideon
1-6 Yet again the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God’s sight. God put them under the domination of Midian for seven years. Midian overpowered Israel. Because of Midian, the People of Israel made for themselves hideouts in the mountains—caves and forts. When Israel planted its crops, Midian and Amalek, the easterners, would invade them, camp in their fields, and destroy their crops all the way down to Gaza. They left nothing for them to live on, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. Bringing their cattle and tents, they came in and took over, like an invasion of locusts. And their camels—past counting! They marched in and devastated the country. The People of Israel, reduced to grinding poverty by Midian, cried out to God for help.
7-10 One time when the People of Israel had cried out to God because of Midian, God sent them a prophet with this message: “God, the God of Israel, says,
I delivered you from Egypt,
    I freed you from a life of slavery;
I rescued you from Egypt’s brutality
    and then from every oppressor;
I pushed them out of your way
    and gave you their land.
“And I said to you, ‘I am God, your God. Don’t for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you didn’t listen to me.”
11-12 One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites. The angel of God appeared to him and said, “God is with you, O mighty warrior!”
"Listening To God" by David Graves
When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of their Midianite oppressors, he sent them a prophet. This unnamed prophet delivered God’s message: God had been faithful to His covenant with Israel, but Israel had not been faithful to worship God alone. God had spoken, but they had not listened to His words.
Throughout the Old Testament, God chastises or rebukes Israel for their disobedience in order to correct them. The Israelites had forgotten God’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery (v. 8), His deliverance from all their other oppressors, and His gift of the Promised Land (v. 9). They engaged in false worship or idolatry, disobeyed God, and broke His commandments (v. 10). We must never forget all that God has done for us.
The Israelites had also stopped listening to God. Oswald Chambers writes, “Every time circumstances press in on you, say, ‘Speak, Lord,’ and make time to listen. Chastening is more than a means of discipline. It is meant to brng me to a point of saying,'Speak, Lord'"
We are called to remember, listen to, and obey God. Chambers is correct when he writes, “Get into a habit of saying, ‘Speak, Lord,’ and life will become a romance.”

Hymn for Today:

"Open My Eyes, That I May See" by Clara H. Scott
1. Open my eyes, that I may see 
glimpses of truth thou hast for me; 
place in my hands the wonderful key 
that shall unclasp and set me free. 
Silently now I wait for thee, 
ready, my God, thy will to see. 
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine! 
2. Open my ears, that I may hear 
voices of truth thou sendest clear; 
and while the wavenotes fall on my ear, 
everything false will disappear. 
Silently now I wait for thee, 
ready, my God, thy will to see. 
Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine! 
3. Open my mouth, and let me bear 
gladly the warm truth everywhere; 
open my heart and let me prepare 
love with thy children thus to share. 
Silently now I wait for thee, 
ready, my God, thy will to see. 
Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine! 
Thought for Today:

“If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived."(1 John 2:4-6)
Prayer Needs:
Please pray for the development of Christian leaders in Grenada.
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