FBC Daily Devotional – September 23, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, good morning. Good Thursday morning to you. I hope your week's going well today I want us to I want to encourage us with this simple idea

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That you know, we're we're living in an age in our country in the United States of America now where Christians are being increasingly

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Marginalized now by Christians. I'm talking about I'm talking about Christians who really believe the

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Bible live by the Bible and call for Biblical morality biblical righteousness.

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So, you know, there would be an anti -abortion position because abortion is murder and there would be a position that that opposes the public

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Official recognition of same -sex marriages and and the Gender transition stuff and the confusion of the sexes and all of that kind of stuff.

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I'm talking about Bible believing Bible practicing Christians in this country being increasingly marginalized unlike any time in our nation's history and That can that can be disconcerting to us as as believers

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But one of the things we want to remember and this I want I see it from 1st Samuel chapter 14 one of the things

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I want us to remember is that in this day of increasing Marginalization, it's vital that we don't forget

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That great numbers are not necessary to achieve some victory

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God God can give the victory that he wants to give Whether it's by many or by few and we see this brought out in 1st

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Samuel 14, and I wonder you know few weeks ago, I think maybe a brought out the story of Gideon in the book of Judges you remember that story where you know,

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God came to Gideon that the Israelites were being Overrun by the

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Midianites every harvest season the Midianites would come in and they'd ransack and steal all the harvest and so forth and God came to Gideon and said to Gideon I'm gonna have you

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Deliver my people from the Midianites Gideon's like me not I can't do that.

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God convinces him He used to be the leader to do this. So he calls together this army of soldiers 30 ,000 some soldiers to come

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To fight against the Midianites still outnumbered largely outnumbered But God says it's too too large of a crowd

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Your army is too big Gideon If you if you were to if I give you the victory with this number of people you're gonna take credit for yourself

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He says so tell everybody who's afraid to go home. So Bunches Tony that a bunch of bunches of them thousands of them left left 10 ,000 soldiers so they go down to the

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God says it's still too many. I got a test for him go down to the water and I'll tell you how to divide the people you're gonna divide them based on how they drink the water

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And there were 300 men who drank the water one way and all the rest of them drank the water a different way and God said send the 9 ,700 home

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I'm gonna give you the victory with 300 300 against the thousands and thousands of Midianites Yep, that's exactly what happened.

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I Think I think Jonathan Saul's son learned that lesson. He knew his the history of his people and warts and all and by the way, there's a lesson for us to learn in our day and age right that We don't only we don't appreciate only

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Leaders who have a pristine perfect character We recognize history and we learn from history with warts and all the good the bad and the ugly well

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Jonathan learned from history and he learned that God doesn't need a majority to give a victory and so here in first Samuel 14 the

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Israelites again are outnumbered in a battle against the Philistines grossly outnumbered and Jonathan and his armor -bearer are camped on one side of a ravine and over on the other side is a

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Philistine garrison of soldiers and Jonathan's looking across the ravine and he says to his armor -bearer.

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He says, you know Let's go Let's go see about dealing with these

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Philistines over there And he gives a little test He says if we go over there Call it crawl up on the side of the ravine and they call us to them then that means

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God's given us God's given us the victory. God's given us these Philistines into our hands

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But then he makes this comment. He makes this point to Encourage his armor -bearer.

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He says come let us go over the garrison of these Uncircumcised even though it's like our many hundreds and hundreds to one

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He says let's go over to this garrison for it may be that the Lord will work for us for nothing restrains the

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Lord from saving by many or by few Nothing restrains the

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Lord from saving by many or by few All right so when you're watching the news tonight, and you're get a feeling of being overwhelmed by By the size of any opposition to the position of biblical

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Christianity and You're feeling like man. It's like all is lost

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Just remember just remember if the Lord sees fit if he wants to there's nothing that restrains him from saving by many or by a few

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It's all it takes is the Lord Someone once said you and God make a majority

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It's always been always will be Father in heaven we thank you for this

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Encouraging lesson from your word today, and I pray that we would trust you Even even in days when it seems like we are so few so outnumbered so overwhelmed

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You and your people make a majority in any situation May we remember this we pray in Jesus name