All in Relationship with God
Micah carries on the shepherd theme. By implication Israel will no longer be abandoned (5:3). In the meantime, the Good Shepherd not only lay down His life for us, for the sheep (John 10:11). The God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, (wishes to) equip you with everything good for doing his will, and…work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 13:20).
Wow! Gideon’s 300 men soundly routed the Midianites. Amazing what God can do with the man He calls in the strength He gives him. To God be the glory! And the enemy stayed far away from the people of God for as long as Gideon lived: During Gideon’s lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years (8:28).
Do you ever wonder if your prayers make a difference? It can be tempting to leave the task to the heavy hitters—those prayer warriors with a gift for praying.
New Testament references to clouds typically appear in settings involving Jesus. In fact, He even said to the crowd “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does…. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? (Lk. 12:54, 56).
Our car’s glove compartment bulged with roadmaps. Mother would mark our vacation route in pencil and navigate Dad from pit stop to pit stop. And, I can still envision her attempting to refold those maps once we safely arrived.
I’ve allowed an “at-my-fingertips” resource to change my world. It’s quieted the angst of temporarily boxing up my favorite commentaries and study resources—old friends indeed. I knew this “world” existed, the world of digital Bible commentaries, but my books and familiar ways held me captive! I’d compared scripture translations using Bible apps for some time, but a shockinging fruitful resource hid behind the “Commentaries” tab. Forty resources awaited me to shed light on the phrase I was examining in the Lord’s prayer, the power and the glory forever.
