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Dear Saddleback Family,

Use the Message Action Plan below to help put the things you learned this weekend into practice. If you missed last weekend's message, click here to watch it online.

Living A Significant Life
Great Lessons from the Lesser Known, Part 1

1. Discover your IDENTITY
   
   "Gideon son of Joash was treshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.  The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, "Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!" Judges 6:11b-12 (NLT)
   
   Your choice:  Look at YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES  OR  Listen to WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT YOU
   
   ACTION PLAN: In your quiet time this week, think about your worth to God.  Read some great chapters that highlight how much God loves you (Psalm 139, Matthew 6, etc.) and give God thanks for his love.
2. Decide your ACTIVITY
   
   "'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.'  Then the LORD turned to him and said, 'Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites.  I am sending you!"  Judges 6:13-14 {NLT)
   
   Wait for strength YOU DON'T HAVE OR Go in the strength YOU DO HAVE
3. Determine your CAPACITY
   
   Rely on YOUR RESOURCES OR Watch God use YOUR WEAKNESSES
   "The LORD said to Gideon, 'You have too many warriors with you.  If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength."  Judges 7:2 (NLT)
   
   ACTION PLAN: What have you been putting off doing for God because of a lack of resources?  What resources do you have that you could use to start serving God in that area this week (What are your loaves and fish)?  Make a list of these and pray over them this week.

God's process for using our weaknesses to bring him glory

"So David defeated the Philistine with only a sling and a stone."  1 Samuel 17:50a (NCV)

"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two fish, but how far will they go among so many?'...Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.  He did the same with the fish."  John 6:9, 11 (NIV)

The LORD told Gideon, 'With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites.  Send all the others home.'"  Judges 7:7 (NLT)

1. God REDUCES our resources
2. God MAGNIFIES our need
3. Someone TRUSTS God with what little they have
4. God USES the little we have to show how great He is
   
   "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me...For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)
   
   "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."  2 Corinthians 4:7-9 (NIV)
5. God WORKS through us to accomplish his will
   
   "'But Lord,' Gideon replied, 'how can I rescue Israel?  My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!' The LORD said to him, 'I will be with you.'"  Judges 6:15-16a (NLT)
   
   ACTION PLAN: What needs have you been trying to meet on your own strength lately?  Offer these needs up in prayer and thank God that in the midst of our weakness, he is with us.