Gideon

Our decisions determine our destination in life!

Gideon's 4 Key Decisions:

IV. Gideon was willing to do hard things.

Judges 7:4-7 NIV

4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”

Very rarely is the right thing, the wise thing, or the God thing, the easy thing.

Gideon's 4 Key Decisions:

IV. Gideon was willing to do hard things.
III. Gideon dealt with his "stuff."

Judges 6:25-26 NIV

25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”

If we don’t deal with our past, it will derail our future.

If we don’t kill our sin, our sin will kill us.

Gideon's 4 Key Decisions:

IV. Gideon was willing to do hard things.
III. Gideon dealt with his "stuff."
II. Gideon gave his life to a greater mission.

Judges 6:14 NIV

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?”

Key Decisions to Follow God's Call:

IV. Gideon was willing to do hard things.
III. Gideon dealt with his "stuff."
II. Gideon gave his life to a greater mission.
I. Gideon allowed God to define him.

Judges 6:12 NIV

12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

Identity informs decisions and decisions determine the destination.

If we don’t let God define us, something else will.

We could place our identity:

In our pedigree.
In other people.
In our performance.
In our possessions.
In our past.

Key Decisions to Follow God's Call:

I. Gideon allowed God to define him.
II. Gideon gave his life to a greater mission.
III. Gideon dealt with his "stuff."
IV. Gideon was willing to do hard things.

Daily Choices to Find True Identity:

I. Allow God to define you.
II. Give your life for a greater mission.
III. Deal with your "stuff."
IV. Be willing to do the hard things.

Ephesians 1:4-5 NIV

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—