Gideon and his 300

1. Have you ever been asked to accomplish a task given very little resources or time to do it? What was it and how did it turn out?





Read Judges 7

2. What did God say to Gideon about the number of men Gideon had assembled (v.2-3)?





3. After Gideon got rid of some of the soldiers, what did God say next (v. 4)? How many total men did Gideon have left to battle the Midianites?





4. How did the battle turn out? What is the lesson learned here?







Additional Thoughts & Application:

Imagine if you were Gideon and God kept on taking away people from your army. How would you respond? I don’t know about you, but I would be a little scared and worried wondering how we could possibly defeat our enemy with so few people.

But, God is a provider. He provided victory for Gideon and he will provide victory for all of us in our situations – no matter what they are and how the outcome looks.

The question is, are you a believer in God’s provision? God is faithful and will always be that way. That is why Gideon trusted God with just 300 men. Never did he question or waver in his faith in God.

The way God provides may not be conventional or logical, but the end result is a provision for us.

This week, how can you rest in his provision? What can you trust God with this during the upcoming week. Think about and pray it over to God. Then, see how he provides. Share it with another person so they can be encouraged and help you achieve your goal.

Pray

His Lasting Challenge

1. If you were on your deathbed, what do you think your final words would be?




Read Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8

2. In Matthew 28:18-20, what was Christ’s challenge to the disciples? What were they to do?





3. In Acts 1:8, what was the strategy Christ gave them to share his message?





4. Why do you think these final words from Christ were important for his followers to hear?




Additional Thoughts & Application:

As part of his final words recorded by Matthew, Christ gives his disciples a clear challenge – go and make disciples. And, that is exactly what they did. They went and made disciples for Christ outlined extensively in the book of Acts. Because of their faithfulness and commitment to Christ and his challenge, you and I are believers! Think about it, what are the chances you and I would have even heard more than 2 sentences over 2000 years later about Christ, if it were not for those faithful and committed to accomplishing Christ’s challenge? Not very likely.

After the challenge, Christ gave them a strategy. What good is a challenge without helping provide a little strategy to accomplishing that challenge? If you look on a map, Jerusalem was the closest location to where the disciples were at that moment. So, the 1st place Christ told them to share his message was to the people closest to them. Then, he told them to go to Judea. That was a little bit further out as they would have to share Christ to people they did not know. Finally, he told them to stretch his message to the ends of the earth.

This strategy can be easily duplicated by us. First, who are those closest to us that we can share Christ to (Jerusalem)? Then, who are those people that you know a little bit, but not really that you can share Christ to (Judea and Samaria)? Finally, where are places you could go and share the love of Christ with?

Christ’s challenge did not end with the disciples. This is a challenge to all of us. Are you making disciples for Christ? Are you being strategic in reaching others for Him? 

This week, the challenge is to identify your Jerusalem friends, the people you may or may not know in Judea and Samaria and plan to go to the ends of the earth (maybe a mission trip to another state or country). Take a minute, pray and think through who God is laying on your heart to share the love of Christ with.

Then, write their names down under the 3 Columns: Jerusalem, Judea, Ends of the Earth.  Who has Christ put on your heart?  Finally, pray that God will give you the opportunity to share with them the love of Christ.

Pray