Morning by Morning, March 26, 2025 - Spiritual and Financial Freedom from “the Midianite spirit” of Destruction and Impoverishment
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your leading (John 10:27). ...
My wife Rocio and I have been ministering in the communities of Morelia and Uruapan in central Mexico this week. Today, we travel to the community of Toluca, where the pastor has asked us to speak and minister on the topic of financial freedom. And the story of Gideon comes to mind—how the people of God were always under attack from the Midianites who constantly came to impoverish them, but You came in deliverance to free them from this “Midianite spirit” when they turned to You and called upon Your name to be their Deliverer:
“Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord” (Judges 6:2-6).
During the times of the Judges, the children of Israel would go back and forth in their loyalty to God and their idolatry to the gods of the land where they lived. You desired to protect them and prosper them in the land, the Promised Land of their inheritance. But their disobedience and disloyalty kept them “greatly impoverished” and ravaged by their enemies who came to “encamp against them and destroy” their crops and their flocks.
But then “the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.” And You sent Your word through a prophetic voice, reminding them not to fear, but to trust and obey, declaring, “‘I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed My voice’” (Judges 6:7-10).
When Your people cried out to You, You sent them a deliverer named Gideon. He himself would need an encounter with You, to overcome his own insecurities and fears, doubts and unbelief, generational idolatry that defiled the land, and even frustration and anger with You, so that he could understand his identity and fulfill his destiny--for himself and for his people. He couldn’t do any of that on his own, but he would come to understand that You had sent him and that You would be with him to fulfill Your word and free Your people (Judges 6:11-32).
The turning point for Gideon, just like the turning for us, was when he repented and returned to You so that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon” (Judges 6:34). Even though the enemies of the people of God gathered for battle against them, You gave him strategies for victory and freedom to overcome--even despite his struggles with doubts, so that he could learn to overcome in obedience and faith (Judges 6:35-7:25).
When Gideon, in the Spirit of the Lord, had delivered the children of Israel and defeated their enemies, the people wanted him to rule over them. “But Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you” (Judges 8:22-23).
Through the battles and testings of faith, You were changing the heart of Gideon into the heart of the mighty, victorious warrior You created him to be, as he was learning humility and dependence upon You. He still had his issues and challenges of character, but You were with him and with his people to free them from their false identities and financial poverty. “Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon” (Judges 8:28).
Though Gideon’s enemies were the Midianites who attacked them and impoverished them, our enemies are not enemies of flesh and blood. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
Our spiritual weapons of our warfare, grounded in the Word of God and empowered by the Spirit of God, are humility and faith, repentance and prayer, obedience and worship, which allow You to establish us secure in our identity as children of God and to learn to overcome our spiritual enemies by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (James 4:10; Revelation 12:11). As we humbly, faithfully, obediently submit ourselves and our families and our possessions to You--all that we are and all that we have--then we can resist our spiritual enemies, and they must flee! (James 4:7) Then, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him!” (Psalm 68:1)
Teach us Your principles of Your Kingdom, to be good stewards of all You have entrusted to us (Matthew 25:14-30). Teach us how to understand all that we have has come from You, that all You’ve entrusted to us is to be used for Your purposes according to Your will, as we learn obedience, faithfulness, and generosity (Malachi 3:10; Luke 21:1-4; James 1:17; Galatians 6:7; 2 Corinthians 9:7).
Let every Midianite, impoverishing spirit that comes like “the thief ... to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” be defeated by the One who arises on our behalf “that (we) may have life, and that (we) may have it more abundantly!” (John 10:10).
Lord, rule over us! Lord, deliver us! Lord set us free in our hearts, our homes, our lands and possessions, in all that we are and in all that we have, as we submit ourselves to You and resist the devil and command him to flee in the name of Jesus!
Let every “Midianite spirit” be bound and cast off; let every “Midianite curse” be broken and replaced by the blessings and favor of God by the power of the Blood of the Lamb, as You set us free in the power of the name above every name--the mighty name of Jesus! (Philippians 2:9) May we experience spiritual freedom, financial freedom, and freedom in every area of our lives through the power and the name of the One who comes to set us free! (Luke 4:18-29; John 8:32; Galatians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 3:17) For “Out of my destress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free!” (Psalm 118:5) Now, may we “prosper and be in good health, even as (our) souls prosper!” (3 John 1:2) In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you be empowered to overcome any kind of impoverishing, destructive spirit in the power of the name of Jesus, that you may prosper and be in good health, living obediently and faithfully to God who sets you free! God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day!
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Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
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