Not anything could have been more abject than the condition of Gideon as described here- stealthily threshing wheat (for fear of the Midianites) to feed his family! But here is one whom the Spirit of God delights to make mention of; whose name, unrecorded of man, is thought worthy to be recorded by Him.

The Spirit of God writes to magnify the grace of God, not to exalt man. He would have us bear in mind such little incidents as that noticed here in the history of the soldiers of faith, in order that we may see by what weak and insignificant instruments God works. His mightiest victories have ever been won by such, and not by those who had resources in themselves.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Joshua 8:3 ESV / 1,632 helpful votes. Helpful Not Helpful.

'And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.' What a remarkable salutation!

Stealthily threshing wheat to hide it from the enemy did not look like valor. But God's 'mighty' men have ever been such as were cowards in themselves, men distrustful of their own strength and wisdom in coping with the enemy, men who 'out of weakness were made strong.' None are 'mighty' men 'of valor' but those to whom it has been said, 'The Lord is with thee.' When God calls a person by a name, He makes that person what the name imports; but He takes the most abject man of an abject tribe to make him His 'mighty man of valor.'

'Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called' (see ). God works not ordinarily by such; the credit would then be given to our wisdom, our influence, and the like; and it is written, 'No flesh' shall glory in His presence. He takes 'the foolish things of the world to confound the wise' and 'the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised.

Yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.' If Timothy is exhorted to 'fight the good fight of faith,' it is as one 'strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.' Thus it is always with the soldiers of faith. They have never so felt their own weakness as when called to be God's mighty men of valor. 'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.' We need to feel that we are weak; that brings in Omnipotence.

We shall have a life of feeling by-and-by, in the glory; now we are called upon to lead a life of faith. What saint does not know from the experience of the deceitfulness of his own heart, that if we had power in ourselves instead of in Christ, we should be something? God does not intend us to be something in ourselves. 'Wherewith shall I save Israel?' His threshing instrument would have been a poor thing indeed to look at as that 'wherewith' to go against the host of Midian. Never, we repeat, had he felt the poverty of his father's house as now.

When God is about to use a man, he makes that man feel most consciously nothing in himself. If He delivers by Gideon's hand, He must have the glory, not Gideon; His must be the strength, not Gideon's. It is always as it should be when we realize our own nothingness.

Strong in the Lord, we are weakest in ourselves. Can we not, almost invariably, trace our failures to self-confidence?

When a believer thinks that he is going to do a feat, his failure often becomes ridiculous. God must abase that which is proud and lifted up. Here is Gideon with his own people against him, and the enemies of Israel gathered together and pitching in Jezreel. But he has peace with God, and the Lord is (so to speak) bound to appear on his side.

How does he act? 'The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.' Had Gideon been serving Baal, he could not have blown that trumpet. But Baal is down, and the altar of God is set up in the ordered place. He sends messengers throughout all Manasseh, who are also gathered unto him, and to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali.

To all appearances, Gideon was weakening his own hands. At the first proclamation twenty-two thousand left him; but in reality, instead of losing strength, he was gaining by their departure. These fearful and fainthearted ones would have discouraged the rest had they remained among them.

'Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart'. The flesh is very bold in word; but when it comes to the point of trial, with Peter it curses and swears that it knows not Jesus. 'The flesh profiteth nothing'. 'So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knee? And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.' God's ways are strange to sense.

The infidel scoffs at them. These who were sent home were really not afraid (as those who departed before) to go to the battle; they were all of them soldiers girded for war. The test was this: whether in that thirsty day they would lap the water, putting the hand to the mouth, or bow down and drink at their ease. The three hundred chosen ones (those by whom the Lord was about to work) had not time for halting; their hearts were in their work, and they merely took a drink as they went on their way. Gideon (instructed that the battle is the Lord's, and that he must get rid of all encumbrances) is next shown his enemies. 'And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.'

It is a blessed thing to be shown our enemies, and to be told with Gideon that the Lord has delivered them into our hands. Our old man is 'crucified' , the world 'overcome' , and its prince 'judged'. If we are walking by faith as risen with Christ, Satan, the world and the flesh are under our feet.

Let us follow Gideon. 'Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.' Divine encouragement is never to the puffing up of the flesh. Anything of pride and self-importance must have been sorely wounded.

When God will show His favored servant the things that are coming to pass, and that he shall smite the Midianites as one man, He makes him feel that (in himself) he is but a 'cake of barley bread.' And is there not instruction for ourselves in this? Were Christians stripped of their worldliness, and made more like the 'cake of barley bread' (the most homely thing possible), the world would stand more in fear of them. What is this 'host of Israel'?

But I just take it one day at a time. Ghost rider movie 2. After a not-so-great first outing in a film adaptation and its sequel (where the Johnny Blaze incarnation of the character was played by Nicolas Cage), the popularity of the character on Agents of SHIELD has led many fans to begin clamoring for Ghost Rider to take on another adaptation.Although some are saying it’s time for a new movie, others are suggesting the possibility of Marvel adding another show to the growing number it already has on Netflix. In addition to the four main Defenders who will be teaming up for their overall series, the franchise has already stretched past its original intention by after the character proved to be a major draw in season two of Daredevil.Taking all that into consideration, could a Netflix show be the next logical step for Ghost Rider?, Luna shared the news that something already appears to be brewing:It’s been talked about, there’s definitely deals in place for that potential. One of the highlights for many fans of Agents of SHIELD has unquestionably been.

Three hundred men! The Midianites are as 'grasshoppers for multitude'; the Lord's 'host' but a handful of men! It is most important to see the dignity attached to the three hundred. And now comes the conflict: 'And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.'

The weapons of their warfare were the most foolish things imaginable-trumpets, pitchers and lamps in the pitchers! Faith's weapons must be mighty through God alone. 'So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp.

And they blew the trumpets and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And held the lamps in their left hands. And they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. And the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host.'

Our power is in giving testimony to Jesus, and never getting out of the place of being but 'earthen vessels.' We must remember that the vessel only contains the light; let us not pretend that it is the light. The excellency of the power must be of God, not of us. 'And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.' What three little words could be more blessedly descriptive of the Christian than these? Not 'faint' and sitting down; not 'faint' and giving up; but 'faint,' yet pursuing. We have to do with Him who 'giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.'

It is a blessed use to make of our faintness and weariness, that of drawing out the fullness of the supply of grace and strength in Christ. It is said, 'Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might'; but to whom? To the one who has no strength in himself, who would give up his course if strength were not supplied to him. We do not like the trial of faith. It is very painful, doubtless, to feel day after day our own weakness. We want to feel that the battle is over; but let us remember that now is our time of war. We are called on to fight as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and that in a daily round of conflicts.

Today there has been sufficient grace and sufficient evil. What we need is to live day by day in reliance on God. He is faithful, and will supply strength according to the occasion and need. The Church will not be at rest till the Lord comes. But weakness ought to be no hindrance to our going forward-'faint, yet pursuing.'

• Contributed by Rick Stacy on Jul 27, 2006 (message contributor)

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Summary: 2 of 4 messages on the Mighty Men of God. This message focuses on the importance of giving ourselves to those we love.

Mighty Men of God

Mighty Men of God are Men of Valor

As Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton explained, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism 'is about inculcating a moralistic approach to life. Some go so far as to suggest that there are no 'right' answers in matters of doctrine and theological conviction.The 'Moralistic Therapeutic Deism' that these researchers identify as the most fundamental faith posture and belief system of American teenagers appears, in a larger sense, to reflect the culture as a whole. Clearly, this generalized conception of a belief system is what appears to characterize the beliefs of vast millions of Americans, both young and old.This is an important missiological observation-a point of analysis that goes far beyond sociology.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13 (NIV)

When the Titanic went down on April 15, 1912 74% of the women passengers survived. 80% of the men did not. This was because the men believed that they lived to protect and care for their loved ones. The believed that women and children came first.

The Knight in Shining Armor is a fabulous image of Might. It speaks to chivalry, integrity and valor. But to what end? For what purpose? For what reason does a mighty man exist.

That’s the question, Men. The answer is that you were created to give your life.

A Father is a man who has learned to give his life for others. A Mighty Man of God is a man who gives his life with strength, honor, and passion.

A Mighty Man of God Protects those he Loves

His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.

Are you strong enough to be involved? Are you strong enough to be vulnerable? Are you strong enough to protect? Are you strong enough to always persevere and never quit on those you love?

“(Love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” according to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:7.

God has called us as fathers to protect those we love.

A Mighty Man of God Honors those he Loves

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect…”

1 Peter 3:7a

The word for respect here is also translated as “Honor”. The original Greek word refers to the act of giving high esteem and value to the object of our love.

Father’s the best gift you can give your children is to treat your wife with honor.

You honor your wife with your words. You honor your wife with your affection. You honor your wife with your faithfulness. You honor your wife with your kindness and attention to her needs.

A Mighty Man of God Pursues those he Loves

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

The word united here is a word in the Hebrew that means to cling to or adhere to. It speaks of being glued to her and beyond that to catch her by pursuit. It can be translated as following close or coming hard after a person.

In other words, this is not a matter of accidental connection to your wife. It is the pursuit of her soul and the weaving together of your spirits.

One does not do this haphazardly but with commitment and passion.

The characteristics of a Mighty Man is an Image of our Heavenly Father

He loves us with all his strength

He honors us with the life of his son Jesus

His Holy Spirit pursues us with all his heart

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