07/24/2009
3) Repentance
Judges 6:27, 28 -And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him… throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock…
One of the first things the Lord asked Gideon to do after appearing to him was to tear down the altar of Baal and build an altar for Him in its place. This was very significant because worshipping Baal was what had gotten the Israelites into bondage under the Midianites. Therefore that altar had to be torn down first before God could further help them.
Gideon might have had a visitation from the Lord but if he would not have obeyed the Lord in tearing down the altars of other gods and building an alter to Yahweh in its stead; he would not have been able to lead Israel against Midian.
This is a very important key today. We have plenty of (seemingly) “visitations from heaven”, there is little or no lack of faith but when it comes to repentance it is hardly practiced. Therefore there are no victories won or even if there are, they are quickly lost as the problem that led to it in the first place is still there due to lack of repentance.
It doesn’t matter how many faith promises we know or hold onto, or how many visitations we have had, if we don’t set right the problem that led to the crisis through repentance and placing God first in that area, there will be no {lasting} victory.
If Jesus is not Lord of our lives, we will live under the power of the enemy or be harassed by him constantly.
We need visitations, we need faith but if we don’t align ourselves with God in repentance then how can we get to a place of lasting freedom and peace?
4) Led by the Spirit
Judges 6:34 – But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet
Gideon followed the Spirit’s commands carefully and did as he was told. Everything from tearing down the alters of Baal to separating the 300 for battle was done on the Spirit’s prompting.
Even in our lives or in the corporate community as the body of Christ, following the Spirit is important in achieving victory. We may have the promise, we may have even seen the victory by faith but we cannot enter it in the arm of the flesh. God’s victories are found only through the pathways set by Him for that.
Being led by the Spirit is what helps us walk that pathway, finally reaching our destination to victory. The Spirit’s leadings are foolishness to the natural mind many a time.
Joshua and the children of Israel walked around Jericho in anticipation of the walls falling down; Jehoshaphat sent a band of singers before his army against his enemies, Gideon fought a vast army of Midianites with 300 men who had empty pitchers and lamps. However all of them succeeded and so will we, if we obey and follow the Spirit
