The Making of a Mighty Warrior Pt. 2
Last week, I began to look at how God raised Gideon to partner with Him to deliver the people of Israel from the oppression of the Midianites.
Throughout the Bible and history, God has proven that He will use, and even exalt, men and women to places of prominence and position.
Why?
That His purposes on the earth will be accomplished, and His name will be exalted and made great. Gideon was one of those people God elevated for His purposes. That God could deliver the people and show Himself powerfully through an imperfect human vessel.
Like Gideon, God sees our lives from the beginning and the end, He is outside of time. He knows our calling and destiny. But for most people, God must minister to our brokenness and wrong identity. We must cooperate with God through the process of calling and equipping to fulfill His purposes.
God raises Gideon as a deliverer (Judges 6:11-24)
God has a plan. Gideon will be used to deliver Israel.
Gideon’s name means “valiant warrior.” But Gideon doesn’t see himself as an overcomer, much less a valiant warrior. The sin of the nation and his own false identity prevented Gideon from seeing himself as God sees him.
When God calls and commissions us, He never reminds us of our faults and weaknesses. Instead, He builds our faith by proclaiming something over us like, “You’re a mighty warrior,” “A father of many nations,” or “You’re the one all of Israel is waiting on!” Gideon, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
God sees you and me as His beloved. He no longer sees us as sinners deserving of judgment but as people forgiven through the grace, vicarious death, and resurrection of Jesus.
You are amazing! Why? Because God calls you so despite your weaknesses, faults, and failures. We all have them, which is why we need our precious Savior!
Gideon was a young man destined to change the course of history. But like many of us, his low self-esteem caused him to have a false humility that reduced his life to simply surviving and trying to make a living.
Your calling may be in your job or career, but for many, their job is supporting them, and their calling is discovered in God’s family.
God sends an angel to Gideon to pronounce his call and to remove his false identity. God knows that Israel’s deliverance rests on His ability to impact Gideon’s self-esteem and wrong identity. Calling comes before commissioning!
Many of us are like Gideon; we are fed up with the evil that surrounds us, yet it hasn’t occurred to us that the miracle we are praying for already lies within us.
Paul wrote of God’s presence and power within the believer:
Col. 1:27: “… Christ within you, the hope of glory.” (NKJV)
Eph. 3:20: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (NKJV)
Where is God’s power at work? Within us!
Your true family lineage and identity are found in Jesus.
You are no longer “the least in Manasseh” or just the “youngest” in the family!
Paul writes that we are to “…be renewed in the spirit of your mind…” Eph. 4:23 NKJV
Our minds must be renewed to who we are in Jesus. Our new life and identity are found in Christ, far above all power and principality!
The renewed mind agrees with God’s reality. God’s realm knows no limits, lacks no creativity. A renewed mind enables God to release His ideas, His creativity, and His power to us and through us to our world.
The nation of Israel failed to possess the inheritance God gave them.
Result: instead of working with God to see their enemies driven out little by little in the land, their enemies remained. People compromised and neglected true worship. They opened a door to allow the enemy to oppress them.
Gideon was instructed to tear down his father’s altar of Baal and, in its place, erect an altar to worship God.
25 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock (stronghold) in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down. Jud. 6:25-26 NKJV
It wasn’t just the nation that rebelled against God; Gideon’s family opened a door to oppression as well. Gideon was to tear down the enemy’s stronghold and build God’s altar on top of it—we must do the same! Having correct worship in our lives and family is vital.
Tearing down the Baal altar was important; it removed the family stronghold and grip on the city. Equally important was Gideon rebuilding an altar to God and offering pure worship—he put himself on the altar! Surrender to the Lord and be obedient to His leading.
After Gideon tore down the family altar, the enemy stirred up the Midianites to prepare an attack. But God revealed Himself to Gideon as Yahweh Shalom or the God of Peace.
The Hebrew word shalom means wellness, wholeness, prosperity, and peace. From the right place of worship, Gideon could stand on the “rug of peace” or be confident in God. Despite the enemy’s schemes, peace follows those whose hearts are steadfast in God.
Jesus promised us that in Him, we have His peace and that He has overcome the world (John 14:27, 16:33). We must choose to abide in Christ and remain in His peace. If our minds drift to fear, we will be overcome by the circumstances surrounding us.
Empowered by the Spirit
The Spirit of God falls upon Gideon in power; he blows the trumpet, and the people begin to rally by the thousands behind his leadership.
34 Then the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him. 35 He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, summoning their warriors, and all of them responded.” Judges 6:34-35 NLT
The phrase, “… the Lord clothed Gideon …” is from the Hebrew word לָבַשׁ (lā·ḇǎš), which means “to cover as with clothing.” But the phrase also implies, “The Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself in Gideon,” or “put him on life a glove!” 1
You could say the “suit made the man!” In Gideon, God found a human vessel whom He could empower.
With Gideon, we see that his family’s iniquity, the enemy’s oppression, and his own fear and timidity can’t keep God from empowering him! He didn’t earn God’s grace and power. It was a gift given to him for God’s purposes.
God’s grace is given freely, not earned (Eph. 2:8-9). I like what the late Dr. Dallas Willard said regarding grace in his book The Great Omission, “Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning.”
You and I can’t earn salvation or the indwelling of the Spirit and His power. But we can position ourselves to receive as God gives. Like Gideon, our weakness, sin, timidity, and fear can’t stop God’s grace!
Gideon had to choose to believe what God said and promised. He had to change his thinking and not allow the past, circumstances, or his own fear to stop him. Your thoughts control your feelings and emotions.
We MUST take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.
When we surrender, trust, and obey God, we position ourselves to be empowered by Him.
God doesn’t want to change you; He wants to transform you. This began when, by faith, you accepted Christ and His gift of grace—the Holy Spirit then indwelt you—and He is in the ongoing process of transforming your mind.
We reflect the identity of the one we focus upon. If my focus is on Christ, I reflect His nature, and my behavior will follow my reflection. I’ll exude His peace, love, and joy!
But, if I focus on my family’s failures, my pain, and my hurt, I will manifest that to others. I move from Christ’s mercy, grace, and love into negativity.
As we learn to see ourselves in the Spirit as a new creation, we begin to live out of our union with Christ.
The Holy Spirit wants to envelop you in His presence. He really cares for you and wants to be your best friend. Our Christian life was meant to be an ongoing experience in the life of the Holy Spirit.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth…you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17 NKJV
For as many as are led (agō: guide, function, spend time) by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Rom 8:14 NKJV
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion (koinōnía: fellowship, partnership) of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 2 Cor. 13:14 NKJV
Our desire should be to seek those things that are above and not of the earth.
We are to be in the world but not of it. We are citizens of a heavenly Kingdom; our desire and pursuit should be toward heaven.
Most of us want to live a victorious Christian life. But without daily communion with the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to attain that goal. Communion with the Holy Spirit is the launching pad for a life of supernatural power and consistency.
Genuine Christianity, led by the Spirit, opens the mind to the potential of being completely transformed to think like heaven—to have a kingdom perspective.
God is after something far more than “good behavior.” He is after the maturing of each of us and the Church into the fullness of Christ, to function with a mindset that nothing is impossible with God, to grow in love and grace on this journey.
We have been called to teach the nations how to stop giants, prosper in famines, rebuild cities, and restore families ravaged by the devil.
God is looking for someone who will align themselves with heaven—just one—that’s all it takes for Him to invade. It starts with surrender, loving Jesus, and communing with the Holy Spirit.
Gideon blew the trumpet after the Spirit of the Lord came on him. Suddenly, the people from the tribes of Israel began to rally with Gideon, and God worked a miracle. With three hundred men, Gideon and the men of Israel routed an innumerable host that came against them. Nothing is impossible with God when His Spirit is moving in power!
I believe that as the Church begins to live in the fullness of the Spirit as God intends, the prodigals will return home, and the lost will be found! The fields are ready for harvest now, Church!
Final Thoughts…
God has destined you to overcome, not just survive in life!
1 John 4:4 NKJV: “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!”
The greater one lives within you, and He takes delight in you. He wants to bless and prosper you, give you everything you need to succeed in this life and accomplish what He created you for.
Don’t stop short of God’s promises to you. Don’t stop short of your destiny.
He wants us to be ready, full of Jesus and His hope and glory, to reveal His greatness and grace to a lost and hopeless world.
We are not smart, strong, prepared, or spiritual enough to do the work God wants us to do. But He is! God will finish work through us; don’t stop short of His glory (Phil. 1:6).
What has God spoken over your life, what is the identity that He has given you? Do you see yourself as small and insignificant, or do you agree with God’s identity and calling in your life?
In Christ, you are 1,000 times larger on the inside than you are on the outside—believe it!
