Risk Taking Faith

Transcript

Greetings in Jesus’ name. Welcome to this morning!

I believe that the Lord’s grace is constantly covering, protecting and even fighting for you. In spite of all the challenges and attacks from the enemy, the Lord is still your God, your protection, refuge, strength and strong tower.

Let me take you to the story of Jephthah, in Judges 11 you see how this man, who was rejected became the leader of the clan of Gilead, and led Israel to victory. In chapter 12, you would see how the rest of the Ephraimites who did not accompany Jephthah into battle, come to pick a fight with him and this is what he replied to them.

Judges 12:3, he says, “I saw that you were not going to help us, I risked my life and crossed over against the Ammonites, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?”

Jephthah replied saying that he did come to them for help, he did come to them to fight by his side. He did come to them to work together and partner together, lets serve together but they did not believe that it was the anointing on his life, that it was the Lord who was working through him, so it was abundantly clear that they were not on his side. He saw that they will not deliver him, fight with him or fight for him when Israel went to fight against the Ammonites, so he risked his own life.

Here is a lesson that some of us need to remember, there are going to be times when people we depend on, don’t show up, provide for you or don’t stand up for you or don’t protect you; but if you stand up and put your life on the line for what God wants you to do in that situation, then you will not be disappointed, because that’s exactly what Jephthah did.

In spite of the rest of the clan of Ephraim not supporting or fighting with him, he still went ahead and put his life on the line. These are his words “I risked my life and crossed over against the Ammonites, and this is what God did–Yahweh delivered them into my hand. So in spite of the fact that God is our protection, there are times when we have to cross over into the enemy territory, we have to cross over to risky grounds, cross over into the water. We have to get out of the boat, step into the water to face our fears, when Peter was sitting on the boat, it was protected, covered and had some sense of security, but God was inviting him to walk on the waters, but the fact was the waters were turbulent. The wind and waves were crazy, it could have been fatal for anybody to step out of the boat and into the turbulence, yet Peter had to take that step of faith to experience the hand, the grace of God, which is sufficient for us and helps us in our weakness, that is Jephthah’s story.

When he did not have his friends, family members supporting him, he had to risk his own life and cross over to the enemy territory because of God’s promise to Israel and the bible says, because he stepped out in faith, Yahweh gave the enemy into the hand of Jephthah and now after the victory is over, the war has ended, now the tribe of Ephraim comes to Jephthah saying “why didn’t you invite me” that’s why Jephthah says “why do you come up to me this day, to fight against me?” It is a completely different thing when the enemy outside your community fights against you.
But it’s a completely different thing when your own brothers and family members turn against you, and want to fight you and want to take your position and want to bring you down and that’s the strategy that the enemy is using in the church today.

Most of our battles are not from outside but from the people of God within the body of Christ, those who say that they are our family members and sometimes other co-laborers in the ministry, when they turn against us is the saddest thing, the same thing happened to Jephthah but he kept cool and remembered that it was not these guys but Yahweh who helped him and gave the enemy into his hands, so he refused to bow down to external and internal threats and continued to lead Israel with the anointing, grace and blessing Yahweh gave.

I pray that this morning’s word will burn like fire in your heart, it will give you the grace to not be discourage when people you rely upon don’t support you or stand with you , it will give you the grace to take that risk or step of faith and go out of the battle field and cross into the Ammonite camp. I pray that your radical action and step of faith will be rewarded with victory.

The Lord will hand your enemy into your bosom and you will have the final say or last laugh, and anybody who wants to come to you afterwards, claiming to be your supporter or friend, you will have the grace to discern and know who are the people that you should avoid and how to continue to rule over the nation and have dominion over your environment, with the grace that God has given us.

Lets pray: Father we thank you for the story of Jephthah and we declare that the Lord’s hand that will be divine authority released over your people all over, may the grace over this story be released. May there be an impartation of the grace, let there be an impartation of risk-taking faith that will cause your people to step out of the boat into the camp of the enemy. Thank you Yahweh for you will give our enemy into our hands.