AGAINST
ALL ODDS
BREAD
9 “Where
is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then
the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and
Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now
Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham
and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the
age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I
am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh
and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is
anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next
year and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis
18:9-14 (NIV)
9 During
that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because
I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If
you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and
listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the
camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The
Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the
valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand
on the seashore. Judges 7:9-12 (NIV)
7 The
LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you
and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his
own place.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their
tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of
the others. Judges 7:7-8 (NIV)
19 Gideon
and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of
the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their
trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The
three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in
their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to
blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21 While
each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out
as they fled. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD
caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. Judges 7:19-22 (NIV)
28 Thus
Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again.
During Gideon’s lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years. Judges 8:28 (NIV)
8 We
do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in
the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to
endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed,
in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might
not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He
has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we
have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as
you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the
gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (NIV)
3 Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and
the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from
God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into
our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If
we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted,
it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same
sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that
just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians
1:3-7 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Miracles
are the great bell of the universe, which draws men to God’s sermon.” John
Foster
“He
has always been a haven to preserve us, and a house to protect us.” Stephen Charnock
“It is then faith in Christ – not merely works or slavish legal
obedience - which releases the divine power to live the Christian life. Flesh will ultimately fail you. Christ does not automatically operate in a
believer’s life like rubbing a jar for a genie and making a Paul out of a
Pilate. No, no…as we walk in faith,
placing our trust and confidence in Him, He bestows the power to accomplish
things too hard for man to do – the most amazing one is changing the bents of
our broken human hearts. He is the
ultimate Transformer always from the inside out. Trust Him with your life.” BHY
“God’s miracles don’t require
help from us. If He makes a promise, He will keep it without any assistance
from you or me.” Michael Youssef
“He is never weary in His providence, and never faints in His
care. He has never lacked the will to
relieve us, nor the power to support us.”
Stephen Charnock
“How many opportunities have I missed to
witness the miraculous because I didn’t listen or wouldn’t obey?” Kristen
Welch
“I never have difficulty believing in miracles,
since I experienced the miracle of a change in my own heart.”
Augustine
“Faith is not measured by our ability to manipulate God to get what
we want. It is measured by our willingness to submit to what He wants. The truth is, there’s no formula we can count
on for when Jesus says yes and when He says no.
We can’t figure out what He’ll decide, and we can’t base our own
confidence on His favor. We can, however, base our confidence on His
faithfulness. Miracles are temporary,
but the word of Jesus, His teachings—they bring eternal life. Real
life. If our hope is
centered in this life, in what we will have while we are here, then we will
forever be disappointed. But if we hope
for what we do not have, if we believe God is for us, then we can wait
patiently for what He has promised. Our
ability to endure hardship is almost limitless—if we have the confidence to live in hope.” Tricia
Lott Williford
“It is impossible
for that man to despair who remembers that his Helper is omnipotent.” Jeremy Taylor
“God delights in doing things that are ‘too hard’ for
man to do as we put our trust in Him. We
will never put Him in a proverbial box of our own making, however, He states, ‘no
eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him’.” 1 Corinthians
2:9 (NIV) BHY
“It’s not our work, nor is it a matter of
working for Him. It’s His work, and
it’s a matter of His working through us.
Jesus is continuing to do His work and teach His truths just as surely
as He did in the Gospels. It’s by His Spirit
and through Hs people like you and me.”
Robert J. Morgan
“Your God’s not absent, distant, impotent. Your God’s vigilant,
infinite, omnipotent, and intimate.” Ann
Voskamp
“As a believer in Jesus walking in His will, the task ahead of you is never
as great as the Power behind you. In Him
is the strength to accomplish all He asks for us to do. Lean in and on Him. He will never let the righteous fall.” BHY
“The
moment you are ready to quit is usually the moment right before the miracle
occurs.” Kristen Welch
“Because our God moves, these mountains can
move.” Ann Voskamp
HEART SAVOR
·
God is not only able but willing to help us.
·
Our God is not distant – He cares.
·
A believer walking in faith in God’s will is
a miracle as it often confoundly goes against the natural tendency of the
flesh. The changed heart of man is
miraculous.
