Judges chapter six, and always thankful for the opportunity to be back on campus and don't get up here as often as I would like, but good to see some familiar faces and just thankful for how the Lord has used this place and the people here in my life. My family wasn't able to be here with me, but I do want to mention that I met my wife here, my wife, Jessica, and we have four young boys, Elisha, Simeon, Mordecai, and Obadiah. They're supposed to be watching right now, so I do want to say hello to them. And we're going to get right into this this morning. Judges chapter 6, and we will begin with verse number 1. Judges chapter 6, beginning in verse number 1. The Bible says, And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. And because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made them dens, which are in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them, and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude. For both they and their camels were without number, and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, because of the Midianites, that the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you and gave you their land. And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God. Fear not the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell, but ye have not obeyed my voice. And there came an angel of the Lord and sat under an oak, which was an ophra, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles, which our fathers told us of? Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. The Lord looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? He said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. He came unto him, and he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee and bring forth my present and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah flower and the flesh he put in a basket and he put the broth in a pot and he brought it out unto him under the oak and presented it. And the angel of God said unto him, take the flesh and the unleavened cakes and lay them upon this rock and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes. And there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, for because I've seen an angel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee. Fear not, thou shalt not die. We'll read one more verse, verse 24. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord and called it Jehovah Shalom. And to this day, it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiez rites. The title of the message this morning is, Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am? Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing upon the preaching of the word. May our ears be attentive. May our understanding be open. Lord, we know that. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. But you have given us the Holy Spirit with the promise that He would lead us into all truth. And so we come before you on the basis of your promise, asking that our eyes would be enlightened to behold the truth of the Word of God. May it not be what this preacher has to say, but what the Holy Spirit of God is saying unto the people. under the sound of this voice. May Christ be magnified. May we be helped and challenged and strengthened. And may you do in our lives all that you are willing to do in Jesus name. Amen. Hebrews chapter 11 is often called the faith chapter of the Bible. That chapter tells the story of men and women of faith and what God accomplished through them, not because of their abilities, but because of their faith. And toward the end of that chapter, we read this in Hebrews 11, beginning in verse 32. And what more shall I say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. These men and women that are mentioned, they saw tremendous things accomplished, tremendous works accomplished. Kingdoms were subdued. Revivals broke out across the nation. Promises of God were brought into fruition. The mouths of lions were stopped. Fires were quenched. These people escaped deadly situations. They saw their weakness turned into strength. They fought valiantly. They turned the enemies to flight in the power of God. And many have read this chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, and have rightly referred to it as the hall of faith, right? These are records of great men and women of faith. When I was a boy, We had a church library and in that library there was a series of books and videos that could be checked out. And I remember there was a series of pamphlets, maybe some of the teachers may remember this, but the pamphlets were entitled the Christian Hall of Fame. And you could read those pamphlets and each pamphlet was a brief biography of a notable Christian throughout history. I know of a church in Canton, Ohio that maintains an exhibit that they call the Christian Hall of Fame. And you can go and see it. And they have paintings and displays of who they esteem to be great Christians. And I used to hear of things like that. And as a boy growing up, I think I thought of these men and these women, these heroes of the faith, as though they were almost superheroes. in a sense. They were on this tremendously high level and they were endued with these spiritual superpowers that was uncommon that they were on some other level, some other plane than us normal Christians. You know what I mean? But when we study the Word of God, we find that the men and women who were so greatly used of God were men and women just like you and just like me. Normal people with real struggles. How many of you ever struggle? How many of you are struggling right now? I am. Hey, we struggle, right? We're normal people. We're flesh and blood. And so were they. And God used them, not because they were something great in and of themselves. No, but because in faith, they yielded themselves to a great God. To be sure, there were some throughout history who have been gifted in a unique way. There are people of unique talent, unique ability that God raises up for a certain purpose. In the parable of the talents, Jesus spoke of some who received 10 talents while others received less. And so I do not stand here and say, all have the same aptitude, all have the same ability, all have the same talent and giftedness. That is simply not so. Some people do have a unique gift and a unique calling. But recognize this morning, God is willing to use anyone who will come to him in simple faith. He wants to use each of us in a great and powerful way. He wants to use you in a great and powerful way. Not someday down the road, but here and now where you are, God wants to use you to make a difference for His glory. Psalm 16 and verse 12, through God. we shall do valiantly, for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. It's not my might, it's not my power, it's not my strength, but it is by God's Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. That doesn't mean that everyone is called to be a church planter, or everyone is called to be a missionary having these dramatic showdowns with witch doctors in Africa and Haiti and so on. Not everyone is called to that. Not everyone is called to preach citywide revival crusades or whatever you may envision as doing a great work for God. But recognize God is able to do things in you and through you that are beyond what you would ever expect. What does the Bible say in Ephesians chapter 3? Unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. It's not about who you are. It's not about what you have in and of yourself. It's about the God that you serve and will you believe him for it. That's the determining factor. God is no respecter of persons. When he looks at you, he doesn't look at you and say, oh, if only they had more talent. If only he didn't stutter so much, maybe I could use him to preach. If only he had more money, maybe he could be effective. If only she was a little more talented on the piano, maybe I could use her. If only they had this. No, God is no respecter of persons. He will use you. He has thoughts of peace and not of evil toward you to give you an expected end. So with that in mind, I would like to look at the life of the first person mentioned here and there in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 32. I'd like to take the calling of Gideon and I would like to make that a character sketch and see what God has to say about each and every one of us. Now, most of you, I'm sure you're in Bible college, you're familiar with the story of Gideon and his 300 man army and how they saw the Lord accomplish a miraculous, a tremendous victory over the enemy Midianites. You know that story, right? But before Gideon was ever ready to go to battle and to trust God, along with his small little band of men, God had to do a work in the heart of Gideon himself. Gideon had to be prepared. God had to do something within Gideon before Gideon could ever lead men into battle. The book of Judges paints a sad picture of the Christian life lived according to the flesh. Throughout the book of Judges we see spirals repeated over and over again of sinful choices which lead to bondage, which lead to oppression. We see God's people in despair because of the choices that they have made leading themselves into bondage, right? The Bible says that to whom you yield yourself as servants to obey, I'm getting the verse messed up, you know it better than I do. You're the servant of who you obey, right? And so when we yield ourselves to sin, we bring ourselves into bondage and that's what's pictured in the book of Judges. Over and over and over again, people, they forsake God, they go off into sin, that brings them into bondage and they recognize they're in bondage and they cry out to God and God will raise up a deliverer to lead them out. And throughout the book, every time that God raises up a deliverer, they experience a season of victory. But it's only temporary for soon they forget God and they plunge right back into wickedness and start to spiral over and over again, right? So in Judges chapter six, I say all that to get to this. We see that Israel has forgotten God yet again. They're doing evil, they're serving other gods, they've wandered after the gods of the Amorites. And so for seven years, they are oppressed by the Midianites. And the people of Israel are forced to flee out of their fruitful valleys and farms into the high places. They're living in caves and rocks and in places that are more remote and inaccessible. They're hiding in the wilderness from these hordes of Midianites. The Midianites along with the Amalekites and others, they came through and they destroyed all of the crops, leaving nothing for the people and nothing for their animals. And it was a very difficult time. Verse five here tells us that the Midianites were like grasshoppers in multitude, like a swarm of locusts that comes and devours everything in its sight. And so in verse six, we read that Israel is greatly impoverished because of this. They were poor, they were lacking. And so they cried unto the Lord. And the Lord, before he raised up Gideon, he raised up a prophet. And that prophet comes with this message. The Lord says, I have brought you out of Egypt. I brought you out of the house of bondage. I delivered you into the hand of the Egyptians and out of every oppressor. Look at what God has done for you. Verse 10, I said unto you, I am the Lord your God. Fear not the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. Notice, but ye have not obeyed my voice. In other words, God says, if you will simply follow me, all will be well. My ways are ways of peace. My ways are ways of liberty. My ways are ways of joy. The Bible says in Psalm 1611, in his presence is fullness of joy. At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. If we would just walk in his ways, we'd be free. But he says, you did not listen. You did not heed. And so at this time, an angel of the Lord comes and sits under an oak tree. in a place called Ophrah. Now, where is that? There were two places by this name in ancient Israel. This one was located in the portion of land that was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh on the west side of the Jordan River. If you can picture the map of Israel, you got the Jordan River just on the west side, much of that belonged to Manasseh and Ophrah was in that plot of land. That's where Gideon was from. It's where he was born and raised. And so Gideon was there. Notice, we find that he is threshing wheat by the wine press. Now, I am not, I don't know a lot about agriculture. I didn't grow up on a farm. I grew up in the city. I don't have a green thumb. I have a black thumb. Everything I try to plant shrivels and dies. I don't know a lot about farming, but even I can tell you that something seems off here. You see, wheat is supposed to be threshed at the threshing floor, right? Wine was supposed to be pressed at the wine press. But what do we find here? The threshing floor and the wine press are not the same thing. They're not the same place. They have nothing to do with each other. The wine press is not a place suitable for threshing wheat. It was a place suitable for pressing wine. But Gideon is at the wine press, not with his grapes, but he is at the wine press with his wheat. What's he doing there? Threshing wheat is the process of separating the wheat kernel from the chaff. And what they would do is they would harvest the wheat and then they would crush it under a millstone. And then they would take this crushed wheat and they would spread it out on a sheet. I thought about bringing a sheet with me this morning, but I didn't. But they would spread that wheat out on a sheet and they would grab the corners and they would throw it into the air and the wind would blow away the chaff and the wheat kernel would fall back down. The wheat would be kept for making bread. Now threshing floors had to be located in open areas where there was a steady breeze. If there's no breeze, you can't thresh the wheat. And so they would put the threshing floors on tops of hills where a breeze could blow and the chaff could be blown away. Wine presses were usually cut out of the rocks deep down in the valleys, okay? The point is this. It is very difficult to thresh wheat at a wine press. It doesn't even make sense. Why is Gideon threshing his wheat at the wine press? Because he's trying to keep it a secret from the Midianites. If he was threshing at the threshing floor, they're gonna see him. They're watching the threshing floors. They know, and if they have any wheat, we're gonna take it. And so they're on the lookout at the threshing floor. And so Gideon's afraid. And so instead of marching to the threshing floor in boldness and defying the armies of Midian, no, he is hiding away in a valley, in the woods, trying to thresh his wheat and really struggling at it. He's just trying to get enough to contribute to his father's household, something to eat. He's trying to make ends meet. And this angel appears to him, and with that in mind, notice what the angel says to him in verse number 12. What a statement. I mean, look at, we could break it up into two parts, right? Notice the first part, the Lord is with thee. Then the second part, you are a mighty man of valor, courage, bravery. That's who you are. I find Gideon's response very interesting. Gideon says, if the Lord is really with us, Why has all this evil befallen us? You're telling me the Lord is with me? Look around! Doesn't look like the Lord's with us. I mean, we're hiding in caves. I'm here at the wine press trying to thresh my wheat and it's frustrating. Where is the Lord in all of this? What do you mean the Lord is with me? He says, where are all those miracles like our fathers saw? I remember how he parted the Red Sea. I remember the story of how he led us through the wilderness. I remember the stories of how he destroyed the armies of Egypt. Where is God now in all of this? Why has the Lord forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midianites? Why are you telling me the Lord is with me? I don't see it. I don't feel it. I don't perceive it. And so he objects to that first statement because it doesn't seem like the Lord is with him. Notice, the angel said, the Lord is with you. But Gideon looks at the nation and says, the Lord has forsaken us. Then the Lord looks at Gideon in verse 14. Now, let's pay attention here. The angel of the Lord is there. In verse 12, we find that it is the Lord speaking. I'm sorry, in verse number 12, we find that it is the angel speaking. In verse 14, we find it is the Lord speaking. I would suggest to you that this angel of the Lord is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we find the Lord Jesus here speaking directly to Gideon and says, Now, you would think that a word from the Lord would be enough to convince Gideon. All right. God the creator, God the Lord said that I am called, that I am sent, that I am empowered, that I am authorized. That's good enough for me. You would think that a word directly spoken from the mouth of the Lord would be sufficient to obey, right? But notice Gideon's reaction in verse 15. He says, oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? My family's poor in Manasseh. I'm least in my father's house. Who am I? I'm no man of influence. My family's poor and I'm the least in my house. Can I sum up Gideon's response here? Gideon says, wait a minute. Don't you know who I am? Don't you know who you're talking to? Do you realize? Now, looking back at it, we can look at Gideon and we can say, hey, come on, man, what's your problem? God is telling you, he's going to enable you, just believe him, just do it. Why all this back and forth? Well, just take God at his word. But as I've been meditating on this, I've seen myself in Gideon. And I think perhaps you may see yourself also. What I mean is, we find all throughout scripture, the Lord has said certain things about us and to us. And we are often, and I don't mean to speak for everyone, but I think it's human nature that we are often very quick to object and slow to believe. Am I right? I mean, I look at Gideon, initially, he doesn't look like a mighty man of valor, right? He's not taking a stand. He's not doing anything bold. He's hiding, right? He's struggling to make it, barely surviving. He's just trying to put food on the table. How is he going to lead a nation? He's not thinking about great possibilities. He's not dreaming about what God could do through him. He is simply thinking about where's my next meal going to come from? Could we say he's beaten down? You know, sometimes we talk about living in survival mode, right? Sometimes you get that way towards the end of the semester, right? You're just trying to keep your head above water, just trying to make it. We're just doing what I can do to get through each day. Show up for another shift, turn in another assignment, just survive until the end. Struggling to continue, trying to pay the next bill, holding on for dear life. Have you ever lived like that? Maybe you're living like that right now. And when we look at ourselves, and we look at our situations, and we might think, well, that's just how life is for me. I look at others and it seems like they've got it all together, they're organized, they're provided for, they have what they need, they're seeing success. Me, I'm drowning here. Maybe it's me, maybe that's just how it is for me. But God says, the Lord is with you. When we're barely surviving, We may know that the Lord is with us. I think if I passed out a questionnaire or had you raise your hand, how many of you agree the Lord is with you? We would all raise our hand. We know it intellectually. We may acknowledge the promise. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Yes, he's with me. And we would recognize, yes, God is good. We're not passed out in the gutter, right? We're not in jail. We're not strung out on addiction. You're here under the sound of the word of God. God is good. But you know, sometimes such statements, the Lord is with thee, God is good, sometimes those may ring hollow, right? You would acknowledge it, you would agree with it, but it doesn't ring true with you. Do you understand what I'm saying? Sometimes it doesn't seem like he's with us. I think of what Job said. Job said, I look on the right hand and on the left and in front of me and behind me and I don't see him anywhere. Sometimes we're so overwhelmed by our situation that we feel like our circumstances define us, right? I'm just struggling with Greek. I'm just struggling with this. I can't pay my bills. I'm struggling on my job, and I don't know how I'm ever gonna make it, and we begin to think that's who I am, is just somebody who struggles, right? I'm just gonna drive the struggle bus through life. I just finished a book, and at the beginning, the author wrote of how he had been in a ministry position, the Lord led him to step aside for a season. Things just, it was turned into a bad situation. He had to step aside. That happens by the way. Okay, that happens sometimes. And so he was seeking the Lord's, the next step in life. And while he's waiting, he's still got to pay bills. And so he's working at a bank and he got fired from the bank because he kept making mistakes on tallying his drawer. And so he finds himself working at Starbucks. And he thinks, you know, people used to come to me and ask me about the will of God. Now they ask me to recommend a brew of coffee. They used to talk to me about spiritual things. And now people are talking to me about extra cream in their drink. And he had a breakdown, a literal breakdown, because what he found was his identity had been wrapped up in being a pastor. And when he was no longer a pastor and he no longer had that career path, even for a season. And when then he failed at the bank and he thought, I can't even count change correctly. He felt like a complete failure. And he said, I felt like the Lord had forsaken me. Have you ever felt that way? You know, you may not ever say it with your mouth, but in your heart, you think, you know, Where was God in all this? I set out to serve God. I set out to go to Bible college. I set out to live for Jesus and to make a difference. And here I am and everything's falling apart and I failed this class and I got these demerits. I didn't mean to and everybody's upset at me. And all these problems start happening and you think, what's wrong with me? Where's God in my life? You still love God. You still wanna live right. You still wanna be faithful. You've not turned your back on him, but in the time of struggle and the time of leanness, you look around and it seems like God's not there. And you're discouraged. You hear songs about the blessings of God and the goodness of God, and you would never deny it, but you feel like you're missing out on it somehow, okay? You hear people share incredible testimonies of God's faithfulness, of God's provision, of success. You hear people say how God directed them and they heard from God and you wonder, God, what about me? Have you forgotten me? I'm over here too, right? It doesn't seem like God is with me. That's what Gideon is saying here. Lord, if you were with me, wouldn't things be different? Wouldn't I be seeing success rather than failure? Wouldn't I be seeing victory instead of defeat? Wouldn't I see abundance instead of lack? Would I not see supernatural things taking place in my life if you were here? I don't know about you, but I see myself in Gideon. But then notice what the Lord said about Gideon personally. You are a mighty man of valor. Lord, you don't know who you're talking to here. You must have me mistaken with somebody else. A mighty man of valor? Me? Do you know who I am? Mighty? I'm hiding from the enemy. I'm weak. I'm poor. My family's poor. I'm the little brother in my family. I'm just trying to survive here. What are you talking about, a mighty man of valor? In other words, the Lord gave a word to Gideon and Gideon said, that word is too good for me. That's not true of me. It may be true of others, but it's not true of me. Look at my weakness. Look at my lack. Look at my struggle. Look at my shortcomings. Look at my insignificance. I am no one. There may be a mighty man of valor somewhere, but it's not right here right now. I'm neither mighty nor valiant. Not me. I think you have the wrong guy here. Do you see? Maybe if I was from a greater family, maybe if I had a preaching pedigree, maybe if I were more noble, maybe if I grew up with two parents, maybe if I had more resources, maybe if I was more skilled, maybe if people were drawn to my personality, maybe if I hadn't blown it already so many times, maybe you're looking for someone else, Lord, because I must not be the one. Don't you know who I am? Are you with me? Gideon is defining himself by his experience and his perception. He is defining himself by what he sees around him. And I'm so thankful for the Lord's response because the Lord is very patient when we are slow to believe, dull of hearing and reluctant to accept what he has said. He says to Gideon, Gideon, go in this thy might. You don't need something else. Okay, I preached a message this Sunday, you've already got it. And it was about how Jesus fed the 5,000 and the disciples thought we need more bread. And Jesus said, the bread you have is enough. to do the job. You don't need something outside of what you already possess because if you are saved, the Holy Spirit, God himself is within you. You have what you need to do what God has called you to do. And so he says, go in this thy might. You don't need something else. You don't need someone else. I've given you what you need. Follow me, I have sent you. God is saying, I called you and I did not make a mistake. I didn't get it wrong here. I am sending you. Go in this thy might. I will be with you. You will, smite the Midianites. And Gideon is beginning to see, right? It's like having blinds on the window, right? And you start turning that knob and they start to open and you start to see more and more light the more they open, right? His eyes are beginning to open, but he has seen himself in a certain way for so long that it's hard to see something different, right? When all your life you've thought of yourself as a failure, when it's hard to change that perception, right? When all of your life you thought I'm a nobody, when all of your life you thought I can't do it, I'm weak, I'm this, I'm that, and when you've had these thought patterns that are established, what might we call them, strongholds, sometimes those take time to break down with the truth of the word of God. So Gideon says, if I have found grace in your sight, show me a sign. Don't leave until I come and bring you a present. I'll bring you an offering. And the Lord says, I will tarry, I will wait. And so Gideon kills a goat and he dresses it and he takes a basket of bread and he presents his offering under the oak tree. By the way, this was a substantial offering. He's here struggling to get any wheat and here he offers a whole bunch of bread, right? And he's instructed, lay it out on the rock, pour out the broth, and Gideon does. And the angel of the Lord holds out his staff to touch the meat, fire comes out of the rock and devours the offering, and then the angel departs. And Gideon realizes for sure, I have heard from God. And the Lord speaks in verse 23, peace be unto thee. Fear not, thou shalt not die. And what does Gideon do? He builds an altar and he calls it Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. Listen, at this time, is Israel at peace? No, anything but. They've been invaded by an enemy force. And Israel is oppressed. Gideon is not in charge of the army. He's not the king. He is not celebrating victory. He's not at the forefront. The battle is not over. He has not demonstrated might nor valor. But he came to the place where he said, Lord, if you said it, I will accept it. And what we find is when we have a word from the Lord about who we are and what he wants to do through us, when we accept it, we can thank God for it before we've even seen it on display in our lives. Do you see? He came to realize that what God said about him was true. And what God said about his situation was true regardless of what his eyes were telling him. Gideon said, essentially, God, don't you know who I am? And the answer is yes. I know who you are, but I see what you do not see. And then Gideon recognized God is my peace. He is enough for me. I don't have to live in turmoil. I don't have to live in frustration. I don't have to live in defeat. God is enough. He will sustain me. He will lead me and he will fulfill his word in my life. So my friends, here's the lesson for us to take away this morning, all right? I'm almost through. God sees you personally. He knows who you are. He created you on purpose. You are his design. And when God looks at you, I would say he likes what he sees. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. And so when you read what God says about you, the God who knows all things, we don't have to object. When God says, I am this, I don't have to object and say, no, no, no, no, no. Don't you know who I am? The enemy will tell you so many things about yourself that just are not true. He will whisper in your ear, and every time something happens around you, he will try to exploit it and say, don't you see this proves what I've been telling you all along. He will exploit your circumstances to make you think that you are who he tells you you are, rather than what God tells you you are. The enemy will point out your failures and tell you, see, you are a failure. Perhaps you've been rejected by a parent or a family member. The enemy will point to that and say, see, you're worthless. Perhaps you've gone through a breakup and the enemy is going to point to that and say, see, you're undesirable. Nobody wants you. Perhaps you've been hurt. Perhaps you've been abused. The enemy will point to you and tell you, see, you're damaged goods. You're nothing. Maybe you're struggling financially. The enemy will look at you and say, see, you are doomed to poverty. You're doomed to mediocrity. That's who you are. Perhaps you see others experiencing success and promotion and things are slower for you. The enemy will say, see, you missed your chance. you're a loser. The enemy will continually remind you of your worst sins, of the hurtful things you've said and done, and say, see, you are a wretch. But what does God say? God says, His stripes, we are healed. All the emotional hurt, all the sorrow, all the wrong choices, all the sin, all the pains, He says, Jesus took that on the cross and you are healed. Your circumstances may tell you that you are too weak, but God says differently, He knows who you are. It is God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect, Psalm 1832. Your circumstances may tell you that you're abandoned like an orphan. But God says in Romans 8, 15, ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby you cry, Abba, Father. Your circumstances and your perception may tell you that you are without, you're lacking something that you need, that you are incomplete. But God says in Colossians 2 in verse 10, ye are complete in him. Your circumstances may tell you that you are rejected, but God says you are beloved, accepted, and his purchased possession. Isaiah 43, one, but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. You may look at yourself and your life and say, I have no purpose. But God says, I know the thoughts I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. God has called you with a holy calling. So beloved, please understand, God is with you. He is for you. He loves you. He knows you completely, and he still loves you. And his love is infinite, meaning nothing you ever do could make him love you more, and nothing you ever do could make him love you less. Furthermore, it means no one in history has ever been more loved by God than you are loved right here and right now, not even the Lord Jesus Christ. You are as beloved as Jesus. And God said of Jesus, you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. My friends, your circumstances do not define you. Your failures do not define you. Your sins do not define you. His word defines you. And I challenge you, make a study, a personal study of what God has said about you as a believer in Christ. And don't just accept it academically, we're good at that, but choose to believe it and live it as your reality. Renew your mind by speaking it as truth and faith. Reject what the enemy is saying about you and believe what God is saying about you. Listen, what someone says, what someone else may say about you or how they view you is not what God says about you. How often do we put more stock in other people's opinion than in God's opinion? So-and-so said I'm a failure. This person rejected me. That person said I'm ugly. My family member said I'm a disappointment to them. And those words hurt, they certainly do. But they do not define who you are. When you and I accept what God says, even when we are so burdened that we say, Lord, would you prove it to me? When our faith is weak, when we will accept it and say, okay, Lord, you're my peace. I will rest in what you say and in that great strength, I will go. Do you know what you find? You are equipped to see real success in what he has for you. We do not have to operate out of insecurity, right? Always trying to prove our worth, trying to, we've got to do better than the other person so we can prove that we have value. No, no, we can operate out of peace. The God of peace will keep your heart and mind by Christ Jesus. And what he has said is true about you will come out in your experience when you accept it by faith. Your faith will become sight. You will believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. God is faithful. And yes. He does know who you are.