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“Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son o f Abinoam” (Judges 5:12, NIV).
Insight
Do you need to wake up and take hold of what has a hold on you? Do you need to reverse the situation and break out from that which is holding you back? It is time to “Take captive your captives” (5:12).
That’s exactly the message God gave Deborah to give to Barak. “She sent for Barak … and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go… and lead the way’ (4:6). “I will lure Sisera… and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands’” (5:7).
The Israelites had been oppressed for twenty years by Jabin, a king of Canaan, and Sisera, his army commander. They were captives because they had once again done evil in the eyes of the Lord. So, they cried out for help against this king and his 900 iron chariots.
Under Barak’s leadership, “The people of the Lord marched down against mighty warriors” (5:13, NLT). Ephraim, Benjamin and Makir marched down. Zebulun came “rushing into the valley” to fight for freedom (5:15). They came to fight, break out and take captive their captives. They “risked their very lives” (5:18, NIV).
However, others refused to fight. They lingered and stayed in the coves. Dan stayed at home and sat unmoved at the seashore. Many suffered from “great indecision” (5:16, NLT) and were cursed “because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty warriors” (5:23).
Wake up! Break out from indecision and the desire to sit unmoved. Linger no longer. It’s time to rush to the valley. Take captive your captives.
Prayer
Father, set me free from indecision. Wake me up to the enemies who hold me captive. Stir me with the desire to rush into the valley and to march out against my enemies. In Jesus name, AMEN.
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Amen! If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. How true is this in our country, where it is status quo to sit idly by and go with the flow. Unfortunately, the flow has gotten us a 50% divorce rate, 1/1000 make it to 60 years old on no medications, the U.S. is #1 in the world in "potential years of life lost", less and less God in our schools and policies, a political correctness that has destroyed chivalry and confused the definition of gender, and a luke warmness that has left us vulnerable to the infiltration of any and everything but what our country was founded upon - Character, integrity, honor, fortitude, FAITH. Thankfully our God represents all of these things to a magnitude that is unmatched, and He is able to redeem and restore all of those who diligently seek His face. Thank you Lord for being a faithful God, who restores and redeems my soul even when I let the world infiltrate my heart. "Therefore, arm me with your full armor, so that when the day of evil comes, I'll be able to take a stand, and after everything is done, to remain standing". - Ephesians 6
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