. Who does God Say You Are?

Judges 6:1-16

This is one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament. This story is ironic! Look at verse12 "When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

Where is Gideon at this time? He is hiding from the enemy! He is afraid of the Midianites! Please understand, I don't find fault with Gideon. I would have been there hiding also. There are times in all of our lives that we are afraid of the enemy and are hiding. We don't like what is happening in our life and cry out to God to change the situation.

We identify with Gideon! We look around and see how horrible our lives are! We, like the Israelites, are praying about our bondage.
Gideon felt insignificant!

Verse 15
"But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

Do you feel like Gideon? Would you be interested in knowing what God says about YOU?

1. YOU ARE WHAT GOD SAYS YOU ARE!

This is what God says about you!

Verse [12] "When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." How does that make you feel? God says to you that "YOU ARE A MIGHTY WARRIOR!" Remember, Gideon saw himself as nothing!

His neighbors saw him as nothing! But God says "YOU ARE A MIGHTY WARRIOR!"

Now who are you going to believe? Who are you going to believe? your neighbors? Your enemies,? Your spouse? Your family? or yourself?

As we look forward to the New Year, we need to decide who we are going to believe! We can choose to believe GOD or EVERYONE ELSE!!

The devil says you are a failure! The devil sends you to hide in the cave! The devil seems to be on your shoulder reminding you of your failures that you are only too much aware. The truth is you have failed in the past. But that does not make you a failure!! God is reminding us today that we are "Mighty Men Of Valor!"

DON'T BELIEVE SATAN!! BELIEVE GOD!!!

2 Cor. 5:17 (NIV) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

God is telling us today that we do not have to live below God's ideal.

2. YOU HAVE WHAT GOD SAYS YOU HAVE

Verse 14 "The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

God is telling the Scared Stiff Gideon that he has STRENGTH! God is telling us that we are stronger than we may think! You are not a "dud"

You are a power house!! We need to walk in the truth of God, NOT the lies of Satan!! Walk in the light of Christ.

Luke 10:19 (NIV) "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

Why do we sit around and say "Oh Woe is me!" We have the power of almighty God. If God says you have strength, YOU HAVE STRENGTH!! Bank on what God says. Discard what Satan tells you!

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?

Who are you believing? Make 1998 a year that you start believing GOD

2 Cor. 1:20 "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

3. YOU CAN DO WHAT GOD SAYS YOU CAN DO!

"Save Israel from the Midianites!!" God says "You can do it!" Don't believe Satan when he tells you to hide!

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

You can be more than conquerors in 1998!! You don't have to go around bragging and telling the world how great you are!

We can be like:
Peter, whose shadow healed the sick.
Paul, simply preached and change his world.
Jesus, simply commanded the storm to cease

People, we need to live by the truth we believe.

I love verse 16 "The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

Do you believe God when He says you are strong?
Do you believe God when He says "I will be with you"?
Then what are you worried about as you face 1998?

BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS!!!

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