Our Daily Bread 25 July 2020 Devotional for Saturday
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Topic: Plod On!
Today’s Scripture: Judges 6:7–16 (NIV)
Bible in a Year: Psalms 37–39, Acts 26
Key Verse: “Am I not sending you?” – Judges 6:14
Today’s Insight: The time of the Judges is an approximately 330-year period after Joshua’s death (Judges 2:8) to the beginning of Saul’s reign as king (1 Samuel 13:1). This was a chaotic time when a new generation of Israelites who didn’t know God turned from Him to worship idols (Judges 2:10–14). “Everyone did as they saw fit” (17:6; 21:25), so God raised various neighboring nations to discipline them. When they repented, God raised judges—political and military leaders—to lead them. Gideon is the fifth of thirteen judges in this book (Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelek, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson).
Our Daily Bread 25 July 2020 Devotional Message
God loves to use people the world might overlook. William Carey was raised in a tiny village in the 1700s and had little formal education. He had limited success in his chosen trade and lived in poverty. But God gave him a passion for sharing the good news and called him to be a missionary. Carey learned Greek, Hebrew, and Latin and eventually translated the first New Testament into the Bengali language. Today he is regarded as a “father of modern missions,” but in a letter to his nephew he offered this humble assessment of his abilities: “I can plod. I can persevere.”
When God calls us to a task, He also gives us strength to accomplish it regardless of our limitations. In Judges 6:12 the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” The angel then told him to rescue Israel from the Midianites who were raiding their towns and crops. But Gideon, who hadn’t earned the title of “mighty warrior,” humbly responded, “How can I save Israel? . . . I am the least in my family” (v. 15). Still, God used Gideon to set His people free.
The key to Gideon’s success was in the words, “the Lord is with you” (v. 12). As we humbly walk with our Savior and rely on His strength, He will empower us to accomplish what’s only possible through Him.
Reflect & Pray
What’s God calling you to do that you can’t do in your own strength? How can you rely on His power today?
Thank You for empowering me, my Savior and my strength! Please help me to follow You closely.
James Banks
Dr. James Banks and his wife have two adult children and live in Durham, North Carolina, where he is the pastor of Peace Church. He is the author of The Lost Art of Praying Together, Praying the Prayers of the Bible, Prayers for Prodigals, and Prayers for Your Children. Find books by James Banks
