When I was growing up, I hit my teenage years and of course I knew everything. My mom or dad couldn't tell me what to do. I already knew how to do it. I would lie about this or that to hang out with my friends because my parents didn't think they were good for me. What's wrong with them, they are good people, right? I had all kinds of super powers that made me know more than my parents. I would say nah my parents won't know, they are never home, they didnt' pay any attention to me. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Maybe that wasn't you, but that's still the biggest complaint I hear from parents today that my teen thinks they know everything. So as a parent now, my biggest nightmare is my kids getting older and growing up with all kinds of crazy things out there they don't understand. Do we parents think to much, yeah maybe! Worry, yeah probably so.. but what do we know about educating our kids to understand! Well that's hard to do when they know everything right? Does any of this sound familiar as to how we take God's authority and put it to use? Do we know to much and don't study his word? Do we rely on our own understanding to solve our problems, but comforts God's word to help our friends? Do you do any occasional prayer and say God doesn't answer? God hasn't helped me out of this circumstance, and you aren't standing on faith. I think in a lot of ways we as Chrisitians know to much to humble ourselves to God and use the authority God has given us. Is this really any different thatn us being a teenager?
Judges 7: 5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unot Gideon, everyone that lappath of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
Judges 7.6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
Here Gideon is obeying God and told him to bring the men down to the water. The ones who bowed on their knees were on the ones God wanted to use. So his army went from 10,000 to 300. Why these ones I wondered? If you can bow down in order to drink the water you would need to scoop it into your hands right? In order to do that, you would have to put everything down in your hands to kneel down and scoop the water. You would have to repy on what you have inside not the weapons you have in your hands to use. To go deepr than that, if the hands are empty and scooped the water, the hands are clean now. God wants to use clean hands it represents a level of holiness when you have to go up against the devil. So if God spoke to you and told you to drop everything and come to me and drink out of the water, how many of us would kneel down and scoop it? This mean you would obey God without hesitation or excuses. He took this simple way of sorting the right kind of people he needed to fight this battle. This is so fascinating to me.
In Zechariah 4:6 Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty.
Gideon realized there were a small number of people left for the battle and the number of people were never his strength in the first place, God was his strength. The devil would never see Gideon's weakness, he would only see his magnificant power.
God tells Gideon "I want you to go and to hear what's going on in the enemy camp" so Gideon and his servant did. Gideon was told to hide behind a bush and eavesdrop and find out what they were saying about him. You know there is power in knowledge, and now Gideon has it. Gideon has now seen himself thru the enemy's eye and his confidence is much stronger. With his easvesdrop he found out about the nightmare. One of the enemy soliders had a nightmare about the invasion. The barley cake in the nightmare represented Gideon's army and the Word of God. You know the devil's worse nightmare is the Word of God. Look at Gideon, a person who has nothing to start with no money, no powers... nothing... can demolish the enemy's stronghold with a single word from God!
Think about this.... the devils worst nightmare is that you and I are going to wake up and recognize our authority in Christ instead of muttering.. I can't do this anymore, I am not qualified, I have so much against me. No in Proverbs 23;7 it says: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. What are you saying about your future and who are you? These words are not using your authority in God.
We need to know that our enemies are saying and speak God's word to it. Is this any different than when I was a teenager? My parents would go thru my stuff to find out what I was up to. I would have nightmares that my parents would find this or that. Why? My parents knew I was hanging out in a camp that wasn't good for me. We need to speak God's word into their life as it says in Luke 23:24 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
The devils nightmare is for us to wake up and know and use our authority within us. We can speak life or death by the power of our tongue. The choice is ours, if you speak death and devil hears and he has the upper hand. You know that old saying if I knew now what I knew then things would be different... we do now and we can speak that against the devil. Don't give up, what is Gideon did? We have the authority to take hold of any stronghold and have victory! This is a new year and time to ask God to show you who you really are and what you are capable of. Gideon led 300 men against 250,000 with a trumpet and breakable pitchers that held a candle of fire. When Gideon said break the jars and the torches flared up, the enemy's camp panic'd and killed everything including each other. How awesome is that? Have you thought about the breaking of the jars is willingness to be broken so that God's light can shine forth. God's dreams for your life can be fulfilled, but you need to let the jars break to be set free. This is a new year, a year of destiny and lets break the jars, speak life into our family lives and let the devil have more nightmares about you.
