Week 27: Girl Power

Please note that there is a PDF version of this post here that you can print it out and use it to write all your answers. 😀 You know, for those who like to do that sort of thing. 😉

This week’s:

If you look up Judges 1:19, 21, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33 what’s the reoccurring theme of these verses?

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“They failed”. Can you relate? What are some ways you feel like you’ve failed lately?

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Look up Judges 3:9 & 15 to find God’s answer to their failure (and ours). ______________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Jesus!!!

There are two repeating themes that flow through today’s Word of the Day. “They failed”, but “the LORD raised up a rescuer to save them.” Isn’t our God great!?! No matter how many times we fail, He is still willing and able to raise up a rescuer to save us from ourselves!

Later in Judges we meet Gideon. In chapter six verse twelve Gideon says something that I think we’ve all at least thought at some point in our Christian walk: “The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, ‘Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!’ ‘Sir,’ Gideon replied, ‘if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The LORD brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

If God is with me, why am I living in such constant turmoil? If God is my rescuer, why do I feel so abandoned? If God is my helper, why do I feel like such a failure?

God didn’t answer Gideon’s question He simply said, “Go.” God doesn’t have to answer our questions, but He does anyway. He often answers them with the same answer He gave Gideon.

“Go. Even in your doubt and frustration. Go in your weakness and fear. Go, and trust in My goodness and wisdom even when you can’t see it or fell it. Go, step out in FAITH – the belief in things unseen. Go, and trust that the advise I’ve given you is sound and the best for you. Go, because I told you to go. Do that thing I told you to do, even if you don’t think it’ll work or that it’s the best idea.”

In spite of all the fear and all the doubt – trust in the Lord your God. Trust.

Just simply, trust.

Re-read Judges chapter seven.

What does verse 22 say happened – due in part to Gideon’s obedience to God’s command to trust Him? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

Gideon’s “army” of a measly 300 men stood around the enemy ARMY and literally watched the LORD fight for them. God had commanded Gideon to “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you.” (Judges 6:14) Gideon, lacking faith in his own ability to accomplish this monumental task before him was being asked by God Almighty to shift his thinking. While Gideon had no faith in himself or his clan, God had absolute faith in Himself to use Gideon and his clan according to His plan. And by golly, wouldn’t you know it, it worked! Gideon followed God’s direction in his life and he saw the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!

I got about halfway through the week’s readings when I discovered yet another theme, GIRL POWER!!! We don’t even get past the first chapter of Judges before coming across our first girl power moment and one of my personal favorites – Acsah.

Acsah’s is NOT a well-known piece of scripture. In fact, in my Women of Faith Bible where they list all the women of each book in the Bible, Acsah’s not even listed! Her verses are often overlooked, but that doesn’t make them any less powerful! Read them in Judges 1:11-15.

Who is Acsah’s father? Is he someone of importance in the Bible? _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

While the idea of giving his daughter away as a prize can seem a bit cold, as a father, what is Caleb securing for his beloved daughter by giving her to the one who attacks (survives), and captures Kiriath-sepher? _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

Acsah’s father was no small name in Israel’s history books. And by offering her hand in marriage to the one who conquered Kiriath-sepher he was ensuring that his daughter would always be protected and cared for and hopefully treated as the true prize we women all are. We each have such opportunity to bless our husbands as victor’s each and every day, I pray that we take them.

Acsah’s story doesn’t end with a simple “Happily Ever After,” there’s more. It also shares a bit of a peek into her relationship with her father as well. In verse 14 what is it that Caleb notices about Acsah and calls attention to it the moment she pulls into his driveway from the honeymoon and slams the door on her pinto? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Caleb asks, “What’s the matter?”

I’m going to guess that these two have spent some serious time together and he knows her pretty well. Caleb notices and questions her well-being which leads us to believe that he cares for her. Just like your Heavenly Father, He cares for YOU – His daughter. He cares about your well-being and often asks, “What’s the matter?” Take a moment to tell Him here: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

In verse 15 Acsah explains her problem. According to verse 15 what was Caleb’s original wedding gift to the newlyweds? ___________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Considering that the Negev is a desert does Acsah’s request of her father make sense?

So much sense that what is Caleb’s reaction to her request? _____________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Just like our heavenly Father Caleb didn’t just give her a spring and call it done, he gave her the upper and lower springs, making sure that his baby girl had a good strong husband that would protect and value her, a nice big plot of land to live on AND PLENTY of water to PROSPER in that land. Her father, just like Our Father loves her in a way where there was no fear of reprisal in her request. She knew when she asked him that he would say, “yes”. She knew that her father loved her and before we move on to more examples of GIRL POWER we HAVE to fully establish where our power truly comes from. It’s NOT our looks, it’s not our demeanor, or through persuasion or manipulation. It’s not from sex or our bank accounts. Our power isn’t even from our brains. TRUE Girl Power comes from being Daddy’s Girl.

In my opinion Acsah was Daddy’s Girl. To him she wasn’t just another one of his many possessions – she was a cherished possession. To him, she was special, she was loved, she was his baby girl. And she knew it. That is where her power in this story comes in – she knew her Father’s love for her and it made her powerful. To be a girl with power you must first know the powerful love of Our Father for YOU. It was for YOU that He sent Jesus. It was for YOU that Jesus died. It was for YOU that He couldn’t stay behind the stone, but burst forth in glorious victory to come and claim YOU as His beautiful bride-prize. You are fiercely loved by a God who is more than willing to go to extremes to show you His love for you. And once you take a firm hold of that truth, you will be a girl with REAL power!

What kind of “Girl Power” can we find represented in Judges 4:4-5? ________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Deborah, a married woman, had flocks of men and women coming to her for godly wisdom. That’s Girl Power!

How about Judges 4:17-22, what kind of strength does Jael possess that we too can claim? ____________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Take a quick peek at Genesis 3:15, what is it that the seed of Eve is said to do to the seed of the snake? Crush his ___________!

Is that not what Jael did? Can we therefore, also do as much to our eternal enemy? _______________

What kind of moxy did the woman in Judges 9:52-53 possess that we can learn from? ______________ ____________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

What kind of mark did she leave on history? Check out 2 Samuel11:18-21!!!!! ______________________ _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

That nameless woman was simply defending herself and loved ones the only way she knew how, with a hundred-pound rock. But the ripples that stone created will last for all of eternity! She and all the other women of Judges taught the men a thing or two when it comes to the true strength of a woman. We know how to get-er-done!

Next week’s :