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Welcome to episode 28.

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Today, we're going to take on a posture of peace

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by setting an atmosphere in our homes

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where the enemy cannot survive.

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Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale.

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Posture is a podcast that serves a short, audible fist

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bump to remind you that God is in everything.

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Together, we're going to be emboldened to take

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a daily posture of perfect peace.

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As a posture community this week,

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we have been refining our focus on God being our warrior king.

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You know, you and I serve a God who has never lost a battle.

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And he has gifted his victory for his people

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to carry each and every day of our lives.

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And so we have been reminiscing on past battles of breakthrough

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where God has led his people in victory.

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And today, we're going to be reading about a victorious battle

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out of Judges chapter four.

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And as always, I encourage you to take time today

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to read this chapter in its entirety.

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I encourage you to read Judges chapter four

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and then read the victory song of Deborah and Barak

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in chapter five.

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Such powerful, powerful chapters, okay?

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But for the sake of our time,

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I'm going to be highlighting portions of the story.

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A quick background so you know what's going on.

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The people of God, the people of Israel,

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have been held in oppression under the nation of Canaan

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for 20 years.

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And God speaks to the prophetess Deborah

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and he tells the people of Israel,

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it is time for you to go against Canaan.

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I'm going to give you victory over them.

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So the army of Israel and the army of Canaan are in a battle.

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The army of God, the army of Israel,

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wipes out the enemy army, okay?

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And that's where we pick up in verse 16.

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It says, and all of the army of Sisera.

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Now, Sisera was the commander.

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He was leading the army of Canaan.

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It says, all the army of Sisera fell by the edge

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of the sword, not a man was left.

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And then it says, but Sisera escaped

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and he fled away to the tent of Yael,

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the wife of Heber the Kenite.

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For there was peace between the king of Canaan

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and the house of Heber the Kenite.

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So Sisera was showing up at Yael's house

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expecting to find protection.

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And it says that, I'm skipping through a little bit,

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but it says in verse 20 that Sisera told Yael,

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stand at the opening of your tent, stand at your door.

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And if any man comes and asks you,

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hey, is anyone in there?

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You tell them, no, no one is inside.

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And then verse 21 happens and it gets real intense.

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It says, but Yael, the wife of Heber,

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took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand.

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And she, it says, then she went softly to him

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and drove the tent peg into his temple

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until it hit the ground.

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Guys, I'm not making this up.

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While he was lying fast asleep from weariness,

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so he died.

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You think?

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Okay, and then just quickly wrapping up the story,

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Barak, who is the leader of Israel's army,

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comes looking for Sisera and Yael goes out to meet Barak

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and says, come, I will show you the man you are seeking.

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Can you imagine?

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Okay, so why in the world would I pull out

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this portion of the story to share with you guys today?

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There's three things I want us to cover

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that just captivated me about the story,

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especially for the time in which we're living in right now

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with this global health crisis.

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Okay, the first thing is that the enemy of God

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showed up at Yael's door expecting to find agreement.

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The enemy showed up expecting to find protection

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in her home.

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Protection from what?

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Protection from the army of God who was pursuing Sisera

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to rightly destroy him.

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So the question for you and I today is this.

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What enemy has showed up at our door today

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expecting to find agreement with us?

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Expecting to find protection in our home?

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Has anxiety showed up at your door today?

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Has sickness showed up at your house today?

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What about lack, isolation, fear, panic, worry?

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No matter what the enemy has sent at your door today,

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you and I get to decide

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if they are gonna be welcome there.

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The second thing that I want us to talk about

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to bring up is that Yael took a tent peg and a hammer to drive a deadly blow to the enemy.

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is that the enemy of God showed up expecting to find

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agreement with us.

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These were things that she had, they were part of her house, I mean she lived in a tent so they were

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lying around, if you will, in her home. And I'm taking this to heart because I realize that

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I want to have a home, I want to have an atmosphere in my home where when the enemy

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shows up it drives him a deadly blow. Okay so I want to make sure that what I am watching,

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what I am listening to, what I am reading, what we are saying to each other in this house

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is not empowering the enemy, it is taking him out. And then the third thing about this story,

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and you might think, wow that was a really graphic story, why did you have to go into

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such detail? I mean I read it word for word, I didn't make it up, but the reason I didn't soften

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it, if you will, is because I wanted us to get that violent image in our head for just a second.

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Because you and I serve a warrior king and we are the people of God and we are

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warriors in his kingdom and we are not called to be a people that shoo away the enemy. No,

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we are called to rise up, to be a mighty force, and to drive the enemy a fatal blow.

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So today with all that's going on in our world, maybe things that are going on in our home,

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in our personal lives, I want you to remember this. You and I have been empowered by the spirit

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of God to rise up and destroy any stronghold that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.

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I just want to, as a quick disclaimer, I think I might legally have to do this,

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need to also remind you that the Bible says that you and I, our enemy, is not flesh and blood,

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okay? I am not proposing that we drive a tent peg into any human's head, okay? We don't fight

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against flesh and blood. We fight against the powers of darkness. That is who we have been

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equipped to take on and to raise the victory banner over. So whatever showed up at your house

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today, anxiety, fear, lack, worry, anything expecting to raise itself up against the knowledge of God,

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to raise itself up against the promises of God, I want you to know this. You do not have to welcome

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it. Set an atmosphere in your home today that is one of peace, love, joy, and then remind yourself

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that you are capable, because of the spirit of God in you, to drive the enemy a fatal blow.

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The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3, and in Hebrew it is shalom shalom, meaning

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complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in Jesus. Let's

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declare this together. Today, I am kept in perfect peace. With my whole heart, I trust the Lord.

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I am strong. I am victorious. I am whole. Remember, friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus's

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ultimate win, not because of anything you did, but because of what he did for you. With every

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step you take today, you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's defeat on replay.