It's On You, Pt 1

Judg 6:6, 11-16

6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

7 When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me."

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said,

"The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."  (strength, wealth, influence)

13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said,

'Did not the Lord bring us up out of 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 the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand.

Am I not sending you?"

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."

16 The Lord answered, "I will be with you,

and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

Gideon’s life was in a mess

Impoverished:  brought low, not equal

          “Cried for help from the Lord” – but got none    

Gideon gets a word from the Lord…

If the Lord is with me, why does He let these things happen?

Why doesn’t God do something about it?          ABANDONED

At first, it looks like the Lord doesn’t answer

“I haven’t abandoned you.  YOU have abandoned you!”

If you don’t like the way it is, YOU do something about it – It’s On You

The Lord says, Go, and I’ll be with you

God operates in the earth only through our authority

Gen 1:26. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So, whenever something needs to be accomplish in the earth,

God looks for someone to Co-Operate with

Because we haven’t understood, we question God & we blame Him

We’re sitting back waiting on God to do something about our situation

When He doesn’t do anything, we conclude that He doesn’t care

God says, It’s On You for not doing what you’ve been told to do

God’s activity is connected to the power in me 

Eph 3:20. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

We diminish our authority & power by the way we view ourselves 

Then we say the opposite of what God says… Mighty Man of Valor vs Weak

So we end up being “Impoverished” – brought low, not equal 

Jude 5-6

I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

⁶ And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He

has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day

• We are bound because we do not believe

Heb 4:2. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 

3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

"So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'"

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

•  ginomai (ghin'-om-ahee):  finished, done - same word in Lord's Prayer

God has done everything already – it’s already finished

God is at Rest – Sabbath

The Lord speaks to us from a “finished” position

          You mighty man of valor

          See, I have already given you…

          You are healed

          You are more than a conqueror

How to Co-Operate with God & Access what’s Finished

1. Believe that I am who God says I am & that I have authority & power

2 Peter 1:3-4

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2. Seek a battle plan, strategy

We here this strategy repeated:  “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” – Moses Ex 14:13-14

There is action required!

Ex 14:15-16

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

2 Chron 20:17. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you."

Gideon’s battle plan

Peter’s tax plan

Isa 30:21. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

3.  Stop asking God to do it… Take Action, because God is with you… & in you!

You won’t fully experience Victory until you use the Power that’s in You

               God will act when you act

#QTNA How Can I Know the Will of God for My Life

Ps 143:8-10

Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust;

Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.

9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; in You I take shelter.  

10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God;

Your Spirit is good.  Lead me in the land of uprightness.

Notice 3 things in David’s prayer:  To know (8), to do (10)

And to not get off track because of the work of the enemy (9)

Jeremiah – Jer 1:4-5

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah is one of the very few individuals who received a clear, direct word at the beginning of his ministry, clarifying God’s will, plan and purpose for his life. 

We think that we would walk in God’s Will if He just gave us a clear, direct word

Even with clarity, Jeremiah still had reservations, insecurities & excuses

In Truth…

We, too, would be full of reservations, resistance, excuses and insecurities 

How many times has the Spirit of God nudged us to do small things and we resisted?  Until we learn to respond to the small directives…

Why do you think you would respond to a direct word telling the full weight of His will?

Abraham – Gen 12:1.  The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.”

Most of us come to know God’s Will like Abraham – through “progressive revelation”

God only told him to ‘follow’ 

Abraham didn’t have clarity on where he was going

2^nd, Abraham did not begin to receive clarity on God’s will for his life until he was mature 

His understanding of God’s Will was through activity

Most of us won’t move until God tells us exactly where we are going

Gideon – Judg 6:11-16

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of 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 the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

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."

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

Gideon was living in disappointment and bitterness,

not even seeking to know God’s will,

Circumstances thrust Gideon into doing the will of God. 

‘Life’ had caused Gideon to disconnect from the purposes of God,

So God used ‘life’ to compel him into purpose.

David – 1 Sam 17:34-37

David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

No one close to David recognized his destiny – he was completely overlooked

David, the shepherd, was left in the field to attend the sheep

His assignment of shepherding was actually key to David moving into God’s will

Shepherding introduced him to, & prepared him for God’s will

To lead God’s people – called “sheep” throughout the whole of scripture 

How did David come to the place of shepherding?

Sometimes we will discover God’s will simply by being obedient to authorities, i.e., parents, pastors, bosses, coaches, mentors, etc.

Notice something about these next 4 people:

Discover who God made you and how God made you

Instead of looking up, look inward to know His Will

• What can I do?
• What’s easy for me to retain & explain?
• Where do I feel “inspired” or “passionate” in my doing?
• Where are my circles of appreciation?

Moses – Ex 2:11-12

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Moses was raised as an Egyptian prince,

But he had a passion inside of him for his Hebrew brothers

His passion was unguided

So it lead to him committing murder & having to run for his life

God tempered his passion over a 40 year period

Then returned him to fulfill his passion of delivering the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery

Some of us need to look inward instead of upward

Identify your passion – what excites you, angers you, moves you, keeps you up at night

Bezalel – Ex 31:1-5

Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts —  4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.

His talents, gifts and creativity revealed God’s will for his life. 

Too often we think that God’s will only be fulfilled in ‘church work,’ or ‘spiritual work’

It was in going to work that Bezaleel was doing God’s will. 

God filled him with the spirit to perform his ‘secular’ job at a the highest level

“God’s Will was in his skill.”

Joseph – Joseph was a dreamer, which gave him a preview of “what could be”

His dreams revealed his DNA

Peter – God used Peter’s personality to fulfill His will 

Paul gives us the key to the Process

Rom 12:2.  Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Prove:  Try, prove, to recognize as genuine after examination

The key to “proving” His will is to be in motion 

Acts 16:6-10

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding (proving) that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Knowing God’s Will is a process:

• Direct Word
• Activity – Progressive Revelation
• Circumstances
• Connecting to your Skill, Gifts, Creativity
• Fulfilling Your Assignments
• Passion
• Following Your Dreams
• Personality

 Identify yourself – which process do you connect with

Then begin to Prove His Will