JustPurposeDaily with AimPurpose IfeOluwa

JustPurposeDaily with AimPurpose IfeOluwa

5/15/2025, 10:11:10 PM

*THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE AGENCY OF MAN III.* _The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me’ (Judges 7:2 NIV)_ Good evening dear friend. I hope you are well. Another lesson we learn from the story of Gideon and the 300 men who were with him is that when the Lord saw that Gideon and his men were struggling with their faith in Him, He sent them to listen to what members of the enemy camp were saying about Gideon and his men. The Lord said, _"if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp” (Judges 7:10-11 NIV)._ So, we see that the moment when Gideon heard how the Lord had caused the enemy camp to become afraid of him and his men, was another learning moment for Gideon. In that moment, he realized beyond any doubt that God was with him and that victory was assured. We learn then that in the pursuit of God's purpose for our lives, when we receive the word from the Lord about our situation, we can be rest assured that He will bring His word to pass. We won't always get the kind of opportunity that Gideon had so that we too are led by a sign from the Lord. However, like that man who confessed to Jesus that he believed but asked the Lord to help his unbelief, we must always be sincere when we are having a hard time to believe God's Word. Whether or not the Lord gives us a sign, we must learn to always take the Lord at His Word. Instead of basing our faith on what our physical senses can perceive, we must learn to trust God at His Word and be encouraged by the assurance of God's commitment to do what He has said to us. We must never forget that He who has started His good work in us is faithful and He will accomplish what He has purposed to do through us. *Pray by faith with me thus:* "Lord, help me to trust you wholeheartedly and to always say Yes as You lead me in the direction of Your purpose for my life." Amen. *Keypoint:* The assurance of God's Word should encourage us as we commit to the pursuit of God's purpose for our lives. _______________ #JustPurposeDaily ©AimPurpose IfeOluwa 🗓 May 15, 2025 https://bit.ly/hi-aimpurpose

JustPurposeDaily with AimPurpose IfeOluwa

5/16/2025, 11:02:26 PM

*SEEING THROUGH GOD'S POINT OF VIEW.* _Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matthew 16:23 NLT)._ Blessed evening. Do you remember the story in Matthew 16 about how Jesus began to tell His disciples about the things he had to suffer at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life? The Bible tells us that Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. _“Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matthew 16:22-23)._ We learn that to take an advice that places us outside of God's Will for our lives is to fall into a dangerous trap. What makes it even more dangerous is when the counsel we have received feels good to the ears and is pleasing to our hearts but not God's Will for our lives. Whether it is in relation to major life decisions such as who we marry or the career we pursue, or seemingly little decisions like what to wear or how to spend our free time, we must understand that what makes our decision right is our alignment with God's Will and not our ease or convenience. Even when people say that they have our best interest at heart, we must understand that our best interests can only be found in God's Will and purpose for our lives. Like our Lord, it is important that we are able to discern when good intentions do not equate to alignment. *Pray by faith with me thus:* "Lord, give me the grace to discern Your Will and to be bold in my pursuit of Your purpose for my life." Amen. *Keypoint:* Our best interests are found only in God's Will and purpose for our lives. _______________ #JustPurposeDaily ©AimPurpose IfeOluwa 🗓 May 16, 2025 https://bit.ly/hi-aimpurpose

JustPurposeDaily with AimPurpose IfeOluwa

5/17/2025, 9:54:56 PM

*SEEING THROUGH GOD'S POINT OF VIEW II.* _Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matthew 16:23 NLT)._ Beautiful evening beloved. Something else that interests me from the story in Matthew 16 is how Peter shows the contrast between divine revelation and human misunderstanding. We see that it was Peter who declared by the inspiration of God that Jesus is the Son of God. Moments later, Jesus was rebuking Peter and calling him Satan because he stood up against Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection. Peter's misunderstanding of Jesus' mission as the suffering Messiah became a potential hindrance to the fulfillment of God's plan. This tells us that even the best of us can become a hinderance to God's plan when we choose our human reasoning over God's divine purposes. I hope you see then that God's plans for our lives will sometimes defy human logic and expectations. We must seek divine wisdom to understand His purposes. Relying solely on human perspective can lead us away from God's truth. We must always align our thoughts with Scripture. We should also cultivate spiritual discernment to recognize when our thoughts or actions are contrary to God's will. And yesterday's alignment will not always be enough for today. Like we see from the story of Peter, it's possible to get your confession right today but be out of alignment tomorrow. It is important that we not only get our alignment right but to also remain in alignment. *Pray by faith with me thus:* "Lord, give me the grace to discern Your Will and to be bold in my pursuit of Your purpose for my life." Amen. *Keypoint:* Relying solely on human perspective can lead us away from God's truth. _______________ #JustPurposeDaily ©AimPurpose IfeOluwa 🗓 May 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/hi-aimpurpose

JustPurposeDaily with AimPurpose IfeOluwa

5/14/2025, 10:32:54 PM

*THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE AGENCY OF MAN II.* _The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me’ (Judges 7:2 NIV)._ Good evening dear friend. Leading people while walking by faith or following a leader who is walking by faith often requires a whole different level of courage. This we know about Gideon's story which we began to consider yesterday. Those 300 men who eventually fought alongside Gideon were right there when 22,000 men walked away because they were afraid. They were also there when God disqualified 9,700 people because of how they drank water. I wonder if any of them began to doubt their life choices when they realized that the battle they thought they were going to fight with thousands of men had become a suicide mission. I wonder if any of them would have desperately wished they had drank water differently or that they had walked away when they had the chance. But you see, those 300 men must have recognized _"the grace upon their leader"_ and bought into his vision. They may not have had the full picture but they trusted that it was God leading Gideon and they chose to follow. Today, I want to invite you to think about the kind of leader or follower that you are. Are you like Gideon who trusted the Lord wholeheartedly not just for his own safety but for the safety of those he led. Can the people who follow you see that you have a relationship with God, hear Him clearly and are fully surrendered to being led by Him? As a follower, are you a quitter when the going gets tough or do you trust the vision God has given to the people He has chosen to lead you? Do you question your leader at every turn or despise their God-given plan for executing their vision? Can you be trusted to go the extra mile in following someone else and helping them to fulfill God's purpose for their lives? In the pursuit of God's purpose for our lives, knowing, trusting and obeying God are crucial both when we are called to lead from the front and from behind. *Pray by faith with me thus:* "Lord, help me to trust you wholeheartedly and to always say Yes as You lead me in the direction of Your purpose for my life." Amen. *Keypoint:* To be effective in the pursuit of God's purpose for our lives, we must commit to trusting God not only when we lead people but also when we are called to follow. _______________ #JustPurposeDaily ©AimPurpose IfeOluwa 🗓 May 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/hi-aimpurpose

JustPurposeDaily with AimPurpose IfeOluwa

5/13/2025, 9:14:25 PM

*THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE AGENCY OF MAN.* _The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me’ (Judges 7:2 NIV)._ Blessed evening beloved. I hope you are well. In Judges 7, we see the story about how God chose 300 men to fight alongside Gideon in the battle against the Midiannites. As I read that story again recently, I found Gideon's response to the process quite instructive. The Bible tells us that there were 32,000 men who were with Gideon at the beginning of the chapter. Then the Lord told Gideon to send home the men who were afraid and 22,000 men left the camp leaving 10,000. Yet again, the Lord said that there were still too many people in the camp and asked Gideon to take the men to the river. At the river, the Lord trimmed the number down to 300 men. In all of these, we are not told that Gideon complained or grumbled about God's methods. Each time the Lord asked Gideon to send men home, he did without questioning. As I think about this I wonder if the issue did not arise in Gideon's mind about what the Lord was doing. Did it not at all occur to him that perhaps God did not really appreciate the seriousness of the situation. I wonder if somewhere at the back of Gideon's he was not thinking that God was about to send him on a suicide mission. Did he think about the families of those 300 men who were being sent on potentially a journey of no return? The lesson we learn then is that the agency of man is never the primary consideration in the fulfillment of God's predetermined purposes. It is not the greatness of the army or the advancement of our battle strategy that brings victory when the Lord is involved. When God's work is done using God's methods, we will unlock a level of greatness that brings glory to God and God alone. And when God finds a man like Gideon who is surrendered and determined to do God's Will, He will glorify Himself in their lives beyond their imagination. So, instead of wondering if God knows what He is doing, why don't you just align with His Will and let Him fulfill His purpose through you? *Pray by faith with me thus:* "Lord, help me to trust you wholeheartedly and to always say Yes as You lead me in the direction of Your purpose for my life." Amen. *Keypoint:* The only active element in the equation of purpose is God, everything else is secondary. _______________ #JustPurposeDaily ©AimPurpose IfeOluwa 🗓 May 13, 2025 https://bit.ly/hi-aimpurpose