Consider this

                The name Gideon means “Mighty warrior”, and that is what Gideon becomes.   However, when we meet him in Judges 6, he is anything but that.                God’s people had been disobedient to him, so they were being punished.   For seven years, the surrounding nations overran and terrorized them.   In the spring, the Israelites would plant their crops only to see them decimated by hordes of invaders who swarmed in like locusts.   God’s people would raise livestock, but those were taken as well.   It became so bad that the people resorted to hiding in caves and other unseen places.   They tried to keep their activities as quiet as possible.   That is why Gideon was found hiding in a winepress, threshing the little bit of grain he had managed to keep.   He was scared, frustrated, anxious and feeling hopeless (Judges 6:1-...

 Our first response matters more than we know. A quick tip to help, and a bigger picture of what God is trying to do with us.  https://youtu.be/tCJ5tb-f0FM  

  Earlier this month, Jessica McClain was well on her way to winning the United States Half Marathon title and earning the right to represent her country at the World Championships. However, with less than three kilometres to go, Jessica took a wrong turn. The police officer assigned to direct competitors to a footbridge left his post to help with a serious incident nearby. Jessica and a handful of other runners missed the turn and ran more than a kilometre off course. By the time they turned around, it was too late. Jessica finished in ninth place. As you can imagine, this incident has sparked a series of protests and created a lot of confusion about what to do next.   To be clear, Jessica’s effort was not the issue. She trained hard, ate properly, qualified for the race and showed up on the appointed day. Jessica McClain was, by far, the fastest runner in the field. She just ran the wrong way.   That story reminds me of various people I have known over the year...

 Do you ever feel like everything is against you and nothing works out?  Do you ever feel like running and hiding?  Have you ever asked, "What is going on, Lord?"  If so, this will help.  https://youtu.be/J1FRMBOtTyc  

  Asleep. That is the word that Jesus used to describe the condition of a twelve-year-old girl who had passed away. “She is not dead but asleep” (Luke 8:52). Then he went into her room, took her hand, spoke to her, “her spirit returned” (verse 55), and she rose from the dead. Asleep is also the word he used when he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up” (John 11:11). He brought him back to life, too. In Acts 7, when Stephen is stoned to death for the things he was teaching, it is noted that he asked God to forgive his attackers and then “he fell asleep” (verse 60). Asleep is the word that is used to describe King David’s death (Acts 13:36), as well as the death of some of the believers in the city of Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6, 15:18). Paul used the word three times in three verses when he wrote, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to ...

 When we do not intentionally slow down, important things get left behind.  https://youtu.be/cc9wNZnfFho