YOU ARE WHAT GOD THINKS, (SAYS), YOU ARE!!!
Hurry, catch up to his thinking and be the great person of valor you are.

Judges 6:11 “…and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide [it] from the Midianites.” What a coward. What a wimp.
So fearful and scared he was hiding to hide his imperfections and try to hide what little stuff he had.

I got news for us, ain’t none of us perfect. We all have flaws and weaknesses that we wish we could hide from everyone. Some of us drive small cars wishing we could afford the fancy ones. I cover mine in mud, but that just makes it look worse. Some of us live in small houses and plant big trees out front to try to hide the fact we don’t have a big fancy house. I need to cut those trees down because the next tornado may drop them on my house, but I cannot bring my self to do it. Some of us fancy up our job titles that make us sound more important than we are.
My job title is “counselor”, and what I do is “case management work.”
I have hid behind pulpits and preached AT others to not look at my own flaws. I have preached loud and hollered in bigger churches thinking I was a great preacher all the time trying to drown out Jesus’ voice trying to get me to spend more time with my family sharing the riches of God’s grace or showing them how to be mature.

What are you hiding behind: Sadness or disappointments? Anger? Disgust: at someone or yourself? Fear: of failure, success, or truth?
Internal critic? Shame? Hopelessness: or despair? We can hide behind them but they drive us back into the addictions that block our way forward or away from what we really want, joy, peace, and genuine love.

But God has put in all of us the spirit of “power, and of love, and of a sound mind”, not the spirit of fear, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear.” 2 Timothy 1:7. So don’t hide behind the negative emotions and there effects. Trust God as Gideon did and win the day for you, your family, work, community, country,
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You can be a mighty person of valor when JESUS is WITH YOU

Judges 6:12 “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD [is] with thee, thou mighty man of valor.”

Here is the secret we all miss so often. “The LORD is with you!!!”

Now most of us say we trust Jesus. We know, theologically, that we are Christians and probably on our way to heaven. We are good most of the time and even friendly with people we cannot stand. We work hard and give 110% more often than not. Most of the time we say we are blessed in these areas because God is with us, meaning we know we’re Christians and God up in heaven is given us pats on the back.

We missed is. Gideon missed it.

The Angel was telling Gideon that the LORD, JESUS, was right there with him right now. He is with you right there right now.

That is what made Gideon “a mighty man of valor”
That is what makes YOU a mighty person of valor.

None of us can do this on our own, in our vast training, education, or riches. Only when we get to the point of praying without ceasing can we live knowing Jesus is always with us. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 always bothered me because I know I cannot spend all my time praying. What it really means is to have a spirit life that is in constant contact with God, know Jesus really is with us all the time. When I have done this, for short periods of time, life is different. The hard times are different, they generally side track me, but when I stay focused on JESUS there is Joy and peace.

JESUS is with you right there right now.

Immanuel’s Place Servant,
Ken Paul

That is the key to a peaceful life. Remember Jesus in the boat as the storm raged? The power was demonstrated not when Jesus calmed the wind and waves, the disciples missed it and we do to most of the time. The real power was that in the middle of that TENSION (like the guitar string) Jesus was asleep in the boat. Tension, storms, but the presence of Jesus, the disciples could have EXPERIENCED IT, but they missed it, they demanded it stop and they missed the music of God being with them during the storm.

goTriad.com : ‘Living from the heart’ is couple’s passion
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This is a story of love and faith, of seasons of sorrow and rejoicing.It’s the story of Triad couple Jonathan and Melissa Helser’s passionate pursuit of a life lived fully from the heart and the songs that have been born along the way. And, mos…