OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SATURDAY- 23/11/2013 - GIDEON'S DEFEAT BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

GIDEON'S DEFEAT

MEMORY VERSE

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Ephesians 5:5

READ

Judges 8:22-27

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you.

And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.

And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.'

MESSAGE

Satan is a boxer and one way he hits his opponents is by giving them the jab. A jab is thrusting your fist at your opponent. If you can hit him in the belly, he will bend and then you can take off his head. Satan follows this pattern repeatedly. The jab he gave to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:3-4 was discouragement. On Mount Carmel, he succeeded in defeating and eliminating all the 450 prophets of Baal and in turning the Israelites back to God. Then Jezebel sent a message to him that by the following day, he would be dead. He became discouraged and afraid and took to his heels.

Discouragement may come from any angle, even from top leaders in the body of Christ. Many years ago, while I was much younger, my General Superintendent called me and said that he was impressed by how I organised the congress and as a result, he was handing over to me the organisation of the church convention. So I mobilised the youths and we had a successful convention. Then something happened that got me discouraged even from my spiritual leader. He got a report from a fellow, believed the report and passed his judgment without even investigating. As I was driving home, I got to St. Agnes (Lagos, Nigeria) and the police stopped my car. I was busy making up my mind not to continue. Thank God He spoke to me. He asked me, “Even though you are disappointed, have I ever disappointed you? I answered in the negative and resolved to continue.

God used Gideon to deliver His children and in Judges 8:22-27, they came with one voice to ask him to be their king. He refused. Thereafter the devil decided to try something else by provoking him to ask them to bring him some gold with which he would make an image like God. The devil rejoiced at this and said he had got him finally. The image Gideon made soon became an idol. Be very careful lest you are tempted to idolise your victory! This is why victory must be celebrated within the bounds of humility. If success is not well managed, it will become a snare to the successful. How are you managing your victory? You can defeat the devil but if care is not taken, he will turn your victory into an idol.

KEY POINT

Be careful that an object or subject of victory is not transformed into an idol