Sunday, March 28, 2010

God Of The Mountain And God Of The Valley

Our God Comes For Our Sake And Will Not Be Silent

God Of The Valley


God has not promised that you will never go through battles. What he promises is that he will go through them with you.  We go through all kinds of different circumstances and things are always changing for us, but God never changes, nor does his word.

In a story told in l Kings 20:4-8, you are going to see how God wins ours battles and how the devil tries to defeat you in your valleys. This is the story of Ben-Hadad, King of Aram.  He sends word to Ahab, King of Israel, that he is coming to take all his silver and gold.  King Ahab relents and sends word back saying, "Just as you say, my lord the king.  I and all I have are yours."

King Ben-Hadad sends another message to Ahab saying, "oh but I will take all that you have, your gold and silver, your wives and your children. I will seize everything you value and carry it away."

Ben-Hadad is a picture of the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy.  The devil is never satisfied with taking only one thing from you, but he wants it all, your spouse, your money,  and your children. We become Ahabs when we agree to let the devil have anything. Like many of us, Ahab didn't stand up and say no, you won't take anything I have. Rather, he consented to giving the devil some of what he wanted.

Don't ever think that the devil will stop at one thing.  If he can't get one child he will go for another one of your children. Start praying for a hedge around all of your children and marriage and your finances. This story shows the relentlessness of the devil here that got Ahab trapped in his web.

Anything that brings joy and happiness is what the devil is after.  The devil says, "Ah, and after I get through with your marriage and children and take your money too, there will be nothing left. Where will your God be then?"

Don't believe those lies.  We serve the El Shadai.  You will come out at the top if you will walk with him and get his word in your spirit.  It's always the devil's work when things go wrong in your marriage, with your children and when your finances fail. This is the nature of the devil, so you can't flirt with sin and the or get distracted with worldly pleasure he's going to move in your home.  

So go on and tell the devil that you are blessed and he can't have your children, your marriage or your job or home.  Sit your children down and tell them who they are in the Lord, because they will be out of your house one day and they will need these truths in them.

When the devil gets through with any situation there's nothing left when we consent to give him a portion of anything we have. He leaves our situation with our children and our spouses full of contention if we back down like Ahab did.

This story of Ahab was not put in the bible to entertain us, but to teach us something about not allowing the enemy to take from us and to give us a picture of how the devil operates.  It is to teach you how to get armored up for the battle to win the war against the devil.

What I like about King David is that he never gave the devil an inch to take anything from him. He never backed down like Ahab did.

Now a battle ensued with Ahab and Ben-hadad.  It took place on a mountain. You can have mountain top experiences.  You're on top of world and nothing can defeat you.  But it is in the valley where the devil will try to position you for the kill.  The army if Ben-hadad gathered together and said, "We know why they defeated us, because they serve the God of the mountain.  So, let's get them in the valley where their God is no longer with them."  You see the devil knows that it is in trials and fire that our faith falters when things are not going well.

Some Christians can only serve God when things are going right and as soon as a trial comes they cave in like Ahab. The enemy wants you to think God will only be there for you when things are good. But God's presence in very real in our valleys and that is the time when we have to stand our ground of who we are in him and submit to his power and will to deliver us. God will give us a word if we will tune our ear to him.
God has a word for us in every situation you find yourself.  Sometimes he gives you that word through an anointed person. Tune that spiritual ear because when that word comes you got to act on it.

Here's the kind of word I'm talking about in l Kings 20. Aram decides to wait another year and attack again when the Israelites are no longer on top of the hills but are down in a valley where he thinks their God will not be with them.  Well, when he insulted God, that put the Israelites in a good position. 

So, the prophet came to Ahab and he told him, God is angry at how Ben-hadad, the Syrian king has insulted him. "God will deliver him and his armies into your hands, and they will know that he is the Lord wherever his people are."  He's the God of the mountain and he's the God of the valley too.

So, have a spiritual ear, for when your enemy attacks your God or insults him he will allow you to defeat that enemy. God allowed the Israelites to inflict a hundred thousand casualties on the people of Aramean in a single day. In the end Ben-hadad is begging for his life, "Oh please let me live."

Sometimes you can get a blessing when someone insults you and your God.  When the enemy touches the honor of God and his word, they are in trouble. God gets angry when he's insulted.  He gave Jesus the name above all names.  So when you wear that name you are blessed. There's not enough devils in hell to take your blessings when you're under the blood. Walk in the path of holiness and do all that Jesus commands us to do and no devil will have any power over you.

How many times has the devil trapped you in a valley?  The king said, "So lets catch them in the valley then we can overtake them."  That's pretty much what the devil says about us, "I'll get your children, your spouse  your finances and your health when you come into the valley weakened.

When he comes at you like that you say to him, I bear the name of Jesus.  I'm an heir and joint heir to the King of Kings, and the Lion of Judah. My God will deliver you into my hands, cause he's the God of the mountain and he's the God in my valleys.

Continues in a second article about how King David got a prophetic word to fight the enemy.

God Of The Mountain And God Of The Valley-Part ll

God will fight your battles for you, but you've got to get a word and get armored up spiritually.  Don't try to take on the devil in your own power.  When King David took up those five smooth stones he knew something. He had a word from God.  He probably said, oh yes, now I'll just go ahead and give the Lord a praise and a thank you, thank you.  It was David's worship that caused him to win his battles.

Giants lived in the Valley of Referum.  That valley is symbolic of our gigantic problems, and if you live long enough you'll come into the valley of giants, against something mightier and greater than you are.  Hide his word in your heart, so when these things come you'll be armored for the battle.

It takes prayer to win battles and some folks in the church don't want to pray the price.  You've got to get a listening ear to hear from God.  When you're facing a giant you need to hear an anointed word.  David bowed and prayed, "God I need to hear a word from you."

Let's take a look at what ll Samuel 5:19 says, "So David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go and attack the Philistines?  Will you hand them over to me?"  It's a doubtless thing to hear from God.  When you get a doubtless word from God you will have to act on that word. Stand up with everything inside of you and rise to do what God tells you to do.  See, you are the redeemed and God will win through you.

I want to show you something here about David and the five smooth stones.  Goliath walked back and forth and defied the God of Israel.  For forty days in a row he would come to the valley where all the men were in hiding and taunt them and their God.  Now, if you ever take the honor of God, you are in trouble.  And you are in a great position when your enemy does that.

These blasphemies coming from Goliath disturbed David while the Israelite army did nothing about this giant defiling his God.  David stood up and said, "God will deliver Goliath into my hand."  How did he know this? Well, lets go back to the decree God had given Moses concerning this. Leviticus 24:16 says,"anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. He must be stoned to death."

While the Israelites were in hiding David got this word from God. He knew God's decree for the outcome of Goliath. He wasn't counting on his skill with a sling shot, but what God's word said to him.  Maybe you haven't gotten a word yet in your situation, but God is the God of mountain and the God of the valley and he is with you wherever you are.

David renamed that valley Bel Perizm, which means in Hebrew, breakthrough.  Stand up with some doubtless faith and God will master your breakthrough too.  Get a word, get alone and seek him with prayer and reading his word.  The Holy Spirit will reveal things to you. Isaiah 46:10 says, "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come."

Sometimes God's Kingdom is an upside down Kingdom that gets inverted.  He's already declared the end from the beginning.  All you have to do is walk by faith.  We say, show me and I will believe, but God says, believe me first and then I will show you.

The first shall be last and the last shall be first.  Let the poor say that I am rich, and the sick say that I am well.  You don't gain by giving, but by serving. The greatest servant will be the lowly servant to all.  This is an inverted truth and opposite of the way the world operates.

My point is that if the devil goes far enough like Goliath did, you will see God flip it upside down.  Your battle has already been won, just stick with the Lord.  I know the giant is big, the enemy is real coming at you, but rename your valley and watch God move. You can't get to the next mountain top until you learn to trust him in this battle and to praise him through it with faith.

If you'll keep the devil in his place you can whip him.  Keep him in the air, for he's the prince of the air and the lord of the flies, don't let him in your ground.  You have hope in your valleys, there is a way out and God's word assures us of that, so go ahead and master your breakthrough today.  No weapon formed against you will prosper, Thus Saith The Lord.

Remember l Kings 20:28, "The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, "This is what the Lord says: 'Because the Arameans think the Lord is a God of the hills and not a God of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.'"

Article Link: The Law Of Confesssion
Manifestation in speaking God's word.
Sermon from Rev. Jerry Nelson, Westmoreland PHC
Wilson, North Carolina
Complete series: djbraman@gmail.com

Prayer Line: djbraman.blogspot.com
Devotionals: believersministrydailydevotionals.blogspot.com






No comments:

Post a Comment