KEY PASSAGE
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many people; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
– JUDGES 7:4
12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O brave man.” 13 But Gideon said to him, “Please my lord, if the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous works which our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
– JUDGES 6:12-1415 But Gideon said to Him, “Please Lord, how am I to rescue Israel? Behold, my family is the least [significant] in Manasseh, and I am the youngest (smallest) in my father’s house.” 16 The Lord answered him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as [if they were only] one man.
– JUDGES 6:15-16
GIDEON = MIGHTY WARRIOR; ONE WHO CUTS DOWN
POVERTY SPIRIT = I DON’T DESERVE TO WIN
11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the wine press [instead of the threshing floor] to [hide it and] save it from the Midianites.
– JUDGES 6:11
SCARCITY SPIRIT = I DON’T WANT TO LOSE WHAT IF HAVE
25 tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this mountain stronghold [with stones laid down] in an orderly way
– JUDGES 6:25-26
1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. 2 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are too many people with you for Me to hand over Midian to them, otherwise Israel will boast [about themselves] against Me, saying, ‘My own power has rescued me.’ 3 So now, proclaim in the hearing of the people, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men returned [home], but ten thousand remained. 4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many people; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
– JUDGES 7:1-4
5 So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels down to drink.” 6 Now the number of those who lapped [the water], putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men, but all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink water. 7 And the Lord told Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will rescue you, and will hand over the Midianites to you. Let all the other people go, each man to his home.”
– JUDGES 7:5-7
TEAMS ARE ABOUT: QUALITY TEAM OVER QUANTITY TEAM
QUESTION: WHY THIS TEAM VS. WHAT IS POSSIBLE WITH US IN YOUR HANDS
8 So the three hundred men took people’s provisions [for the journey] and their trumpets [made of rams’ horns] in their hands. And Gideon sent [away] all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but kept the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
– JUDGES 7:8
He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, then do likewise. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet (ram’s horn), then all around the camp you also blow the trumpets and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
– JUDGES 7:16-18
20 When three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Then each stood in his place around the camp; and the entire [Midianite] army ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When Gideon’s men blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one [Midianite] against another even throughout the whole army;
– JUDGES 7:20-22
THIS WEEK’S ACTIVATION:
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
READ: JUDGES CHAPTER 6 & CHAPTER 7
ASK: What am I believing about myself that is contrary to what God believes about me?
Is there any evidence of spirit of poverty or scarcity in my mindset?
POVERTY SPIRIT = I DON’T DESERVE TO WIN I DON’T TRUST I AM ENOUGH
I DON’T DESERVE THE ABUNDANT BLESSINGS OF AN ABUNDANT GOD
SCARCITY SPIRIT = I DON’T WANT TO LOSE WHAT IF HAVE
I DON’T TRUST GOD IS ENOUGH
I CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE WHAT I HAVE SO I FEARFULLY HIDE AND HOLD ONTO WHAT I HAVE = STINGY AND GREEDY
I DON’T BELIEVE IN THE ABUNDANCE OF AN ABUNDANT GOD
Who has God put me in a relationship with who is committed to bringing what they have in their hands for the victory only God can deliver through His hands?
Do I truly trust God?
PRAY: Father, thank you for being my abundant resource and supplying my abundant resource to see my life blessed beyond my own ability. Thank you for those you have put around me as a Dream Team. If there is anything in me where poverty or scarcity needs to be broken please move on my heart. Break what needs to be broken. Amen!