Psalm 46:1-11 (NLT): “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans  roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude. A river brings joy to the city  of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. 5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From  the very break of day, God will protect it. The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God’s  voice thunders, and the earth melts! 7 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel [b] is our fortress. Interlude. Come, see the glorious works of the LORD: See how he brings destruction  upon the world. 9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the  spear; he burns the shields with fire. ‘Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every  nation. I will be honored throughout the world.’ 11 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude.”  

Ever get into something that was way over your head? How about finding yourself in a situation  where you felt you were not enough? Well, that’s exactly where many people find themselves today. They are living on little and afraid of the little that they have left being taken from them. They are  Pressured by an Enemy that seems so massive that there is certainly: No way out, No end in sight, and  No help on the horizon. That’s Exactly where Gideon and the Israelites found themselves. For 7 years they were free but oppressed by the Amalekites and Midianites. The Midianites would come down  while they were harvesing and take all their crops, food and grain leaving them to starve. That’s what  the enemy does: “…Steal, Kill and Destroy.” John 10:10.

Fear is a life of Hiding from an enemy that seems undefeatable. God addresses “Fear” over 500 times in the Bible—500!!!!! How many times does the Lord have to tell us, “DO NOT BE AFRAID!” FEAR LEADS TO WORRY; WORRY EATS YOUR SOUL AND KILLS YOUR DREAMS!!! God doesn’t want  you to live in fear when He sent His Son Jesus to give you a prosperous life, hope and a future. “So if  the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” John 8:36 (NLT) 

Fear and Defeat are common to so many today and it’s time to get the Word Out—God is going to  give us Victories this Year! 

Judges 6:11-16 (NLT): “Then the angel of the LORD came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah,  which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing 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!’ 

13 ‘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!’ 

15 ‘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. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting  against one man.’” 

5 Practical Things We Can Learn From Gideon’s Story —–> For Victory 

HE IDENTIFIED THE ENEMY. God Allows Attacks To Get Our Attention: What You Allow, You Attract. Judges 6:1 (NLT): “They did Evil in the Sight of the Lord, and He handed them over to the Midianites.” 

Repentance Is The Birthplace of Restoration: Sin Is The Real Enemy of Our Lives. Judges 6:7  (paraphrased): When they Cried out to the Lord, The Lord sent a Prophet to them. 

HE ACCEPTED THE ASSIGNMENT. God Often Says What We Can’t See. Judges 6:12 (NLT): “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!” Gideon Had to Hide the Harvest. You Need Wind to Thresh the Wheat. 

We often can’t see what God says. Judges 6:14-16 (NLT): “Then the LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go  with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’ 

15 ‘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. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting  against one man.‘” 

HE ASKED FOR A SIGN. Gideon Wanted A Sign So He Sowed A Seed. Judges 6:17-18 (NLT): “Gideon  replied, ‘If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the LORD speaking to  me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.‘” He didn’t have to, he wanted to.

How did he know? The past shows us what to do and what not to do.  

Want a sign? Sow a seed.  

What You Connect To You Have Access to.  

 Your Potential Will Be Unlocked By His Presence 

HE WAS FAITHFUL TO THE WORD OF THE LORD. Judges 6:25 (NLT): “That night the LORD said to  Gideon, ‘Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your  father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it.‘” What You Worship  Determines What You Will Face. Idol Worship Kept Them From The Father’s Protection. When You  Serve The Lord, It Stirs Up The Enemy. Everybody wanted to kill him, But Nobody could stop him!  

HIS REQUESTS WERE ANSWERED. Judges 6:36-37 (NLT): “Then Gideon said to God, ‘If you are truly  going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, 37 prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece  on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I  will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.’”  

In Closing: 300 Anointed Are More Powerful Than 32,000. God Divided Them Into Groups But He  Didn’t Divide The Army. God Led Gideon Into A Great Victory: THAT’S WHAT GOD DOES FOR HIS

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