Title: Gideon's Warrior! (Judges 07:2-8)
Contents Prayers for the glory of God are always answered. However, praying with my greed will be shaken after some time has passed. We become discouraged because we are not sure. So it is difficult to get a response.
This morning, while thinking about how Gideon was caught by God's hand in a crisis, he saved the kingdom and raised God's glory, I hope that we too will enjoy the joy of great victory with right prayer and right faith.
The book of Judges is Israel's historical book, and it repeats itself in one pattern.
Israel, who has settled in the land of Canaan, is at peace, so their spirit is rather dry and they fall into a deep sleep. As a result, they turn away from God and bring on God's wrath. At this time, foreign nations holding the breath of their neighbours, call out to war and take Israel as a colony. After years or even decades of suffering in a foreign country, these people of Israel come to their senses and, God, save them! screaming, hanging and appealing. Repent and return to God. At that time, God changes his heart and sends God's men (judges) to destroy the Gentile nations, save Israel, and bring peace and prosperity.
Repeating this was the history of Israel and the history of mankind.
If you take a closer look at your personal life, you will see that you do not stray far from this category. Some people see cases in their lifetime when the result of their religious life is being beaten, crying and crying and repenting.
We hope that the early morning prayer warriors of our Sandoll Church will subdue our enemies in one stroke. And I hope that you will never again be subject to a yoke of slavery and that you will never again turn away from God and enjoy the grace of failing.
To do this, we must closely observe Gideon's victory.
1. You must become a person of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 6:34 After the young David was anointed, he defeated King Saul and many enemies.
Moses also became a great leader of Israel after meeting God who appeared in flames on Mount Horeb.
Gideon was a weak man. I didn't have the courage. He was a person who did not dare go out in front of people because he was afraid.
However, after meeting God and having the evidence that God has shown, people have changed. So, I was able to stand up and lead a small, untrained army of 300 men against the hundreds of thousands of Midianites and defeat them.
The disciples of Jesus were also cowards who ran away from the cross, and they were confused and unsure of themselves. But after receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, he changed. They became courageous apostles and conquered Rome with the gospel.
We are all nameless Gideon. However, if we receive the Holy Spirit, we can become Gideon who changes history.
2. Gideon first fought with himself and won.
When God called, Gideon was not confident. So I asked him to show me the evidence. This is the process of fighting with yourself. God has already chosen him, but he doesn't believe it.
For people of faith, the carnal mind and the spirit mind always coexist. However, only when we overcome the thoughts of the flesh can we exercise the power of God and be used by God.
By testing the wool, Gideon gains confidence that God is with him, and this is a battle of prayer with God. It can be compared to Jacob wrestling with an angel at the river Jabbok, and Moses gave leprosy in his hand when he asked for evidence and then healed him, and showed the story of how he made a serpent with a staff.
We must first fight and overcome ourselves and have the conviction that if God is with us, we are not afraid of any adversary.