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Isn’t it amazing how we tend to meet the new year with much joy, fireworks, dancing, celebration, and renewed hope?!
My question is, why don’t we end the old year in the same way?
Another of my questions is, would we meet the new year in the same way if we knew that the new year ahead would be the toughest year we will ever face?
You see, when the new year starts, it raises hope in our hearts that:
I think it would be good if we got to a point at the end of this new year and celebrated it as the best year of our lives.
Do you believe it is possible? – I do!!!
Today I will outline some steps to a God Year, but first, I will take you to a verse that you have heard me quote before.
And be not conformed to this world: (Romans 12:2)
You see, if you conform to this world, then you will have the same year as this world will have. You will be in the same boat as everybody else. Whilst some people may find that comforting and reassuring (safety in numbers, at least I am not alone), that may not be what God has in store for you.
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2)
The amount of transformation in your life is directly related to the amount of renewing happening in your mind. This year ahead will only be as new as your mind is renewed. There is no new year without a new mindset. When you see a person and say “Wow, you are completely different, did not recognise you, you are transformed”, then you know that that person has undergone some serious mind renewal. I know I have already said that before, and I know you already know that, but I am bringing it to our remembrance.
, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)
Have you ever asked God what His will is for you, for your life, for this year, for whatever. I promise you, if you work on the renewal of your mind, then you will find the answers to those questions. You will find what the perfect will of God is for you.
So now that we have cleared that one out of the way, we can go into the actual steps that I want us to look at.
I will start in Jud. 6:6 and read through it a bit at a time.
And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. (Jud 6:6)
The Israelites were in a desperate state. They were working very hard to make ends meet, but when the harvest came the Midianites would come and steal it all.
Do you know anybody who is working very hard and yet has very little or just about enough. Tell that person to cry to God.
God hears our cry!
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. (Exodus 2:23)
And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; (Exodus 3:7)
God hears our cry!
‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment,[c] or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ (Chro 20:9)
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. (Chro 20:14)
God hears our cry!
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 )
What is your land that needs healing? Is it your family, your relationships, your business, your health? What do you need God to heal? Have you cried to Him? If you have, then let me assure you that He heard you.
Cry to God!!
It takes humility to cry to God! It takes faith to cry to God! Sometimes crying to God is the last thing we do, after we have tried everything else.
If we continue like that, then God will take away all those things that we rely on so that we will be left with nothing but cry to God.
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. (Psalm 18:6)
God hears our cry!
Now let’s go back to Judges and continue.
When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, (Jud 6:7)
What did the Lord do?
the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. (Jud 6:8)
The Lord heard their cry and sent them a prophet. In those days they were not born again like we are today in the current dispensation, so they could not hear from God directly like we can through the Holy Spirit. Hence, they needed a prophet.
Listen for God's answer. Listen for God’s plan.
And he said to them (that is the prophet),
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” (Judges 6:8 - 10)
Now, whilst we are listening, we need to be ready to receive a bit of correction. Chances are, we may need it. I know I definitely need it. So we can see God telling them off about their disobedience.
But also, we listen for specific directions, for a specific plan, for a specific strategy.
In Joshua 6 we see God giving Joshua a plan of attack. He was to go round the city once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day he was to go round 7 times and then after that the priests were to make a trumpet sound, and when they heard the trumpet sound they were to make a great shout. And then the walls were gonna come down.
Does that make any sense? Can you imagine Joshua telling the people the plan?
What?! Go round the city and then shout and then the walls are gonna come down? Is that your plan? Have you lost your mind?
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
As we listen, we may get instructions that make no sense at all. But if we are faithful as Joshua was with the plan he got from God, we will see the same results.
So let’s go back to our text in hand. Judges 6
And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. (Judges 6:11)
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. (Judges 6:12) … And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. (Judges 6:15)
What is God saying about you? What are you saying about yourself?
In this passage we see a clash of perspectives. God sees Gideon in one way, but Gideon sees himself in another.
An angel appears to Gideon and says “Behold, mighty man of valour!” and Gideon is looking over his shoulder, as if looking for whom the angel is talking to.
Do we do the same? How do we see ourselves?
Gideon was perplexed at God’s choice, because he was the least in his father’s house. His father’s house was the least in the whole tribe. And his tribe was considered a half-tribe in the nation. Now does that sound like God choosing?
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. (1 Sam 16:6)
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Sam 16:7)
We need to step into what we are called to be. We sometimes walk in what I call false humility.
False humility is when we put ourselves down so that we look humble before people. That is false humility.
True humility is when you agree with God. What God says about you is truth and you will accept nothing else.
If God says I am a king and a priest then I am. If God says that I am a child of God and a co-heir with Christ then I am. If God says I am a mighty man of valour then I am. If God says I am beautiful then I am. If God says that I can do it then I can.
That is true humility. When people read the Word of God and agree with it, submit to it.
It is time that we straighten our shoulders and look straight forward. It is time for us to remember who we are in Christ.
Some people have more faith in what they have done than in what Jesus has done, on the cross. They have more faith in their sinfulness than they have faith in the blood of Jesus.
This is foolishness in the House of God!
Being afraid to approach the Father about things.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
It's time to end the identity crisis and start living as sons and daughters of the almighty God.
Religion says, “if you do, you be” – if you do this and that and the other then you will be a good Christian, then you will be a son, then you will be...
Relationship says “if you be, you do” – if you are a son or a daughter of God then you will do all these things, then you will please the father, then you will serve with a joyous heart, then you will do as a son does.
Religion has it the other way round.
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6)
Do you know who you are? – You are a mighty man or woman of valour.
To have a God year this year, you will need to submit to that truth, accept it, agree with it, and live it out.
Now, once again, let's go back to our good friend Gideon in Judges 6.
And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. (Judges 6:13)
Ok, so Gideon is accusing God of having forsaken them. He is blaming God for all the evil that is befalling Israel. What he does not want to recognise is that Israel has forsaken God. Israel did not obey the voice of the Lord and ended up in that mess.
How many people do you hear today blaming God for all the evil in the world, and yet how many of them actually care about what God has to say about it.
So Gideon does not know what he is talking about. But the Lord does not get upset.
And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? (Judges 6:14)
Very often we wait and pray and then wait for God to pump us up like the Michelin mascot or like a balloon with power and strength and authority before we go anywhere or do anything.
The religious spirit rises up and says “well, you don’t wanna do anything in your own strength, you need to do it in God’s strength.”
Now I understand that, but it is not about who you are and how powerful and strong you are, it is about who sent you.
In this case God is telling Gideon, “…have not I sent thee?” Go in this thy strength, and God will be with you.
God will extend His hand and support you through difficulties, He will pick you up during hard times.
Some people don’t want to go to university because they think they are not clever enough – Go, go in this thy strength and God will be with you.
Other people don’t want to get a better job because they think they are not qualified enough – Go, go in this thy strength and God will be with you.
Still some other people don’t want to move forward in ministry (teaching, preaching, serving, etc) because they think they are not cut up for it – Go, go in this thy strength and God will be with you.
We should not wait until we have it all together, until we have figured it all out, until we know the whole thing how it will work, basically, until we don’t need God anymore and then go.
A classic example is a traffic warden. He may say I do not feel strong enough to stop a lorry, but then it is not about his strength, it is about who’s behind him. Behind him is the whole government. And behind you is God.
I know people who could not read or write at all. Who grew in the mountains with the sheep. Now they own businesses and are doing really well.
Is that possible? Yes! All things are possible with God. All things are possible for those who believe. If we stop disqualifying ourselves and actually say “wait a minute, God is with me, what am I afraid of?”.
What would you do this year, if you knew you could not fail? If you really knew that you cannot fail. What would you do? Would you go?
You are blind? – Go! You are laime? – Go! You cannot read or write? – Go! You are not qualified enough? – Go! You are the least in your house, and your house is the least in your tribe and your tribe is the least in your nation? – Go!
It will do us no good if we hear God, get the instructions and then not go.
So, back to Gideon. Judges 6:
And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: (Judges 6:25)
And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. (Judges 6:26)
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. (Judges 6:27)
Now you may say, “I don’t have any altars of Baal”, but my question and God’s question is, what are we trusting in? What is our support? What is our peace and comfort based on?
Is our trust in our job? Is our trust in our savings? Is our trust in our house?
What are our priorities? What comes first?
People say, let me look at your bank statement and I will tell you what your priorities are?
Are there things that God needs to chop away? Little props that we have put up to help us on the way.
We need to throw them down. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to highlight them and then we need to throw them down.
It might be hard, it might be scary. Gideon was fearful and so he did it at night.
We may be afraid for our dignity if some of our props are taken away. What will we be like, what will happen? What will the people think of us?
Do it in the hidden place, do it in private. Between you and God. Work through these things, but do not live with them. They have to come down.
Our trust has to be in God and God alone.
Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. (Judges 6:33)
But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. (Judges 6:34)
Note when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, - after he has thrown down some idols.
We will be amazed at the increase of God's Spirit in our lives when we trust fully in the Lord and have no other Gods beside Him.
But why did the Spirit of the Lord come upon Gideon? – He had a task to achieve!
Do we have a task to achieve? Do we have work to do until the return of Jesus?
I think so!
Let read on from Judges 7 now…
2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth 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. 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. 7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. (Judges 7: 2-7)
The Lord will give you a detailed plan. The Lord will say unto you, “Do this, do that, go there, come here, …”.
The Lord will direct your path.
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
He did it for Gideon, and He will do it for you.
A few different times God has given me dreams to direct me and point me in the right way. God is good!
Gideon did the plan exactly as God gave it to him. And deliverance came to Israel that day.
My question is, did Gideon have to lift up his sword? Did he actually do any fighting?
22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. (Judges 7:22-23)
First of all they were killing each other and then they were running. There was no head-to-head combat at all.
If we do it God’s way it can really be that easy.
Step 1 – Cry to God. Step 2 – Listen! Step 3 – Mighty Man of Valour! Step 4 – Go in this thy might! Step 5 – Throw down the altar of Baal Step 6 – The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you. Step 7 – And the Lord said unto Gideon. Step 8 – Do the plan exactly as you got it.
May you have the best year yet!