If you stand up to problems with optimism and ask God to help, you will overcome them. Be freed from pessimism and read today’s poem to begin your day stepping ahead on the journey with confidence.
So may all your enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength. – Judges 5:31
One take away from the post “He Prepares the Way” is that great things can be done with God’s help because He prepares the way. Those against us don’t stand a chance when we know God is our strength and we work together to advance His cause.
Take encouragement from the song You Say by Lauren Daigle. Like the sun that rises each morning in all its strength, take in the words of the song that God says you are strong. Step ahead today believing and achieving.
As you read Judges 4-5, remember that God thinks you are AWESOME! Focus on what you can do and not on what you wish you could do. Then what seemed to be impossible will become possible. Take in the lessons learned and seek ways to apply these teachings in your life.
Within today’s passage, notice that the people revert back and forth between their own ways and then back to God’s Way when going through difficulty. There would be success when they followed God’s Way but extreme difficulty when they did not. For example: we note that the people had turned away from God and were sold into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan. They were cruelly oppressed and cried to the Lord for help (v. 3).
Deborah was leading Israel and Barak was her military leader. Deborah created a plan to attack Canaan and their army leader named Sisera. The army of Israel under the leadership of Barak routed the army of Sisera and Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael who was thought to be a friendly ally but she drove a tent peg through his temple while he was sleeping.
Barak continued to pursue Sisera and then found out from Jael that Sisera was dead. Since Canaan was without a military leader, Barak pressed harder and led the Israelites to victory over Jabin king of Canaan. For this reason, Deborah and Barak are considered to be co-deliverers of Israel.
One take away from today’s passage is that great things can be done with God’s help because He prepares the way.
Those against us don’t stand a chance because we know God is our strength and we work together to advance His cause.
Lord … You are our strength and we rely on You to help us carry the load of this world. You give us the strength to overcome the enemy when our total focus on You. The enemies we face are our concerns, our doubts, and the worries of today. Help us today as we face our challenges with confidence because You made everything and You made us so our worth is beyond measure. You gave Your Son to redeem us and we are of infinite worth. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
“…let us know His secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and He planned to do it through Christ. His goal was to carry out His plan, when the right time came, that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head. – Ephesians 1:9-11
Within the post “Roadmap to Victory”, we are given examples of how victories were gained. The greatest attribute of those that gained victories was that they let God lead them. This is His secret purpose or God’s plan for us.
Here is a video about letting God lead you to victory: Lead Me On by Amy Grant. Pay special attention to the following lyrics within the song:
Lead me on
Lead me on
To a place where the river runs
Into your keeping
Lead me on
Lead me on
The awaited deliverance
Comforts the seeking, lead on.
This day with God will be amazing because we will focus in on another passage along the journey with the purpose of applying what is learned by documenting, organizing, and affirming the principles we can use to apply in our lives. Reading in Judges 3:7-31, the people did not respond to being educated in the ways of the ONE true God and served other gods so they were defeated by the king of Aram Naharaim and subject to him for eight years.
When they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer named Othniel. He became Israel’s judge and in war, they regained control so there was peace in the land for forty years until Othniel died. Again the people reverted back to their old habits so the Lord handed them over to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years until they cried out to the Lord who provided another judge named Ehud.
When we look back on history, we find that the people were successful when God provided them with a deliverer or judge that led them. We see in these judges certain characteristics like wisdom and courage but the greatest attribute is following the Way of God and allowing Him to lead them.
We see a pattern of God’s dealings with His people as they would gain victories but then forget who gave them success. They would then begin to revert back to their old habits and turn away from the Lord’s Way until He provided another judge or person to lead them. I have some good news for you my friend! We have a permanent judge in Jesus Christ who has delivered us. Here is a link to God’s Plan for Us that is the roadmap to victory.
Thank You God for today’s passage about how You gave victory to the Israelites through a deliverer or judge. Our ultimate deliverer is Jesus Christ who became a wonderful teacher to give us wisdom and truth. This truth sets us free and leads to victory. Amen.
This Day With God - A Spiritual Journey 