God uses a "nobody".
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· 63 viewsGod uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary tasks.
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Read Judges 11:1-11, 29-33
One thing the devil does to immobilize believers, to stop them from serving God, is to make them think they’re nobody to be used by God.
The devil will try to make you feel useless by showing you all your negative traits and he’ll tell you “How can you serve God being like that?”
The devil tries to destroy any self-esteem you may have (result: under-esteem)… God will not use you if you think He cannot use you!
If he doesn’t achieve it, he will try by making you believe that you are more than who you are: over-esteem (result: pride). God does not use proud people either.
If you feel you do not have the right stuff to be used by God…, I have good news for you: God uses ordinary people.
God can use a “nobody”!
Jephthah is an undeniable example of that.
God uses people who have shameful backgrounds.
God uses people who have shameful backgrounds.
He was from a shameful family line.
He was from a shameful family line.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
His mother: a harlot.
He was a product of an immoral and scandalous relationship…
His father: an ordinary man (maybe grandson of Manasseh).
It is very common to see people bragging about their father. “Don’t you know who is my father?”
Your ancestry should not determine your present!
Jesus, as a man, descended from a harlot! (Rahab)
Who your present father is determines who you are… Devil or God.
He was rejected by his own family.
Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
Ilust. Timothy Acts 16:1-3
Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
He had a shameful life.
He had a shameful life.
So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves about Jephthah, and they went out with him.
You may know a person by his friends… Bad company corrupt good manners.
It is not about what we have done, but about what God can do with us:
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NASB95)
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Your past should not determine you future!
God uses unexpected people.
God uses unexpected people.
God can use you in spite of your age.
God can use you in spite of your age.
- Some use their age as an excuse for not serving the Lord…
- There is no ideal age to serve Him. If there is, what that should be?
- Apparently, Jephthah was the oldest child.
Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
- Gideon is another example:
The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
Moses was 80 when God called him to liberate the Israelites from Egypt, and served God for 40 years. He was 120 when he gave the reins to Joshua.
God uses you in spite of your weaknesses.
God uses you in spite of your weaknesses.
Jeremiah, the prophet, thought that God could not use him because he was not eloquent:
Jeremiah 1:4–8 (NASB95)
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. “Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.
Timothy was probably shy and timid:
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
But God used him!
He also was frequently ill...
No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
But God used him. Your illnesses should not stop you from serving God!
God will use your past and your background.
God will use your past and your background.
Every experience is a lesson of life that will become useful in your service to God.
I my ministry, I have used many of the things I learned in my studies in Civil Engineering.
You have a past and a background that you can use to serve Him...
God uses people that depend on Him.
God uses people that depend on Him.
Jephthah had God as a witness of his promises.
Jephthah had God as a witness of his promises.
The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord is witness between us; surely we will do as you have said.” Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.
Jephthah was a man of his word.
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
He fulfilled his promises even if they were painful.
Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
He never imagined what would happen, but he was a man of his word:
When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”
“If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow!
He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.
The presence of HS made the difference in his life, and Samson’ life…
What we see in the book of Acts is a bunch of nobodies, unlearned men, and simple fishermen being mightily used by God when He filled them with HS.
You may be a “nobody”, but when God fills you with His Spirit, He makes you a “somebody”.
He trusted on God’s power, not on his skills.
He trusted on God’s power, not on his skills.
Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand,
He was a valiant warrior. He was trained to fight….. But he knew that victory comes from the Lord.
If you want to be used by God, here is one thing you must learn:
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.
God wants to use, but the question is, Are you willing?