Tuesday, July 2, 2013

THE GOD OF THE MOUNTAIN

                                         Ever feel like God has forgotten you?
                                    Ignored you? Forsaken you?

                           Where is God when I need Him? you ask.

      Does it seem like in the toughest moments of your life He is absent, 
                                           hiding somewhere?

                         If you answered yes to any of these questions, the
                            following encouragement for today may help.

Now, in order to see God at work we have to go to His Word. The reason God gave us a written Bible is so we can see examples of people's lives, what they did right, how they failed, etc. and then apply this information to our lives.

1 Corinthians 10:1 ESV

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

So, lets take a look at the book of 1 Kings chapter 20, which gives us the account of king Ahab (NOT A GODLY KING, but God was faithful to His people still), who received word from a prophet of God that he should go out and attack the Arameans, who were about to wage war against Israel, before they came against the Israelites.

      19So these went out from the city, the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and the army which followed them. 20They killed each his man; and the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, and Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.21The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans with a great slaughter.
      22Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.”
      23Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they. 24“Do this thing: remove the kings, each from his place, and put captains in their place, 25and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so.
 
The Arameans thought that God was only effective in the high places, on the mountains. They thought He was a God of the mountains, and as long as His people were fighting from the mountain tops He would deliver them,  but God couldn't possibly help His people if they were in the valleys, in the plains, they thought. So they came up with a plan to fight in the plains the next time around.
What they didn't realize is that Jehovah God is the Creator of heaven and earth. All is His, and there isn't a place on earth where His power and His presence cannot reach.
 
Another Aramean War
      26At the turn of the year, Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27The sons of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went to meet them; and the sons of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the country. 28Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The LORD is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”

Now, before we go any further, I'd like to make a statement; the only difference between the two sides, the Israelites and the Arameans, was what God each of them served. The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons,

Acts 10:34 King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons

Romans 2:11 New International Version (NIV)

 For God does not show favoritism.


So God favored the Israelites because they followed and obeyed Him. God chose Israel as a nation that would come out of Abraham because He saw Abraham's heart, and knew that Abraham would obey and follow Him. But throughout scripture we see other people who chose to follow and obey God, such as Rahab, Ruth, some Egyptians who chose to follow the Israelites to the Promise Land, plus the many gentiles who came to know Jesus as their Savior in the New Testament and afterwards, etc., etc.
God opens His arms to ANYONE who chooses Him, and to His people, He will give favor.

Now, having said that, back to our scripture,

 29So they camped one over against the other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. 30But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber.

Where was God when the Arameans came against the Israelites?
Fighting for them, that's where He was, in the battle field!
Could the Israelites have thought:
 "God doesn't protect us from our enemies' attacks, therefore He is NOT helping us"?
 or : "He must be absent from my life because I'm getting attacked and He is not doing anything about it"
How about: "If there was a God, all this wouldn't be happening!"


No, the Israelites could see very clearly that in the midst of trouble, their God was at work. His hand was protecting them and helping them fight their enemy and win!
God doesn't, in general, prevent our problems. He doesn't take our enemy out of the way so we don't get bothered by him.
What God does is He gives us the strength to fight back, and by the blood of Jesus we have the power to win the battle just like the Israelites did. 


The Israelites didn't just win the battle, they chased their enemy even into his hiding place and completely destroyed him. Through Jesus we can do the same. Our true enemy is not of this world, he does not have flesh and blood like we do,

Ephesians 6:12 King James Version (KJV)

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Our real battle is against the devil and his demons, so ours is a battle we can only win through the power of the blood of Jesus, and His atoning sacrifice for us at the cross of Calvary.

 

Where is God when you are going through a trial?

He is right by your side, comforting you, giving you strength to fight back, helping you overcome the attacks of your enemy.

 

God isn't only God when all is well. When life smiles at us. When we are safe. When we have plenty. When we are healthy. When we are on top of the mountain.


The God of the mountain is still God in the valley. The same God who helps us get on top of the mountain can help us get out of the valley and up again, if we'll just trust Him, if we'll just follow Him no matter what, if we'll just praise Him in the middle of life's storms.


Verse 27 of our text says that the Israelites were like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the country. Our enemy also seems much larger than we could ever hope to be, but don't despair, you are not alone. Your enemy may look huge, but the One who is on your side, fighting with you, is MUCH bigger than the one who is against you.
 

Romans 8:31 New International Version (NIV)

 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

 

That has got to be the best news ever!


                          God is for us!


He hasn't forgotten or forsaken us, He is always by our side waiting for us to follow and obey Him so he can act on our behalf. If the Israelites had not obeyed to God the outcome would have been very different.


Are you ready for a different outcome?

Give your heart to Jesus
Follow Him
Obey Him
Pray
Place your faith on Him
Be patient, God will come through because He LOVES YOU!



 

 

 

Monday, July 1, 2013

DISCOURAGED? Deliverance may be just a day away

 


 
Hello!
Thank you for visiting my blog.

We all have days when we wish we could either start all over again,
(so we'd have a chance to avoid the mistakes we've made )
or we wish the day would just be over!

Today I'd like to share with you a word of encouragement for those tough days, when all seems to be going wrong.

If you are facing adversity in your personal life, or in ministry, this may help you stay strong and keep on going until your deliverance finally comes.

The following Scripture verses are from the book of 1 Samuel, and this account of the life of David before he became king of Israel spoke to my heart. It helped me realize how much David went through and how much he had to struggle just to stay alive; but through it all he kept his focus on God, did not despair, and became an overcomer.

After David killed Goliath and the Israelites started making him their star general, King Saul got jealous of him and started trying to kill him. David had helped deliver his people from their enemies and they loved him, but fame cost him dearly. In a short period of time he lost all he had: his position as General of the Army, his place of honor in the royal palace, his home, and even his wife, the king's daughter, all due to King Saul's jealousy.

David spent years running for his life, hiding in caves in the wilderness, and going from place to place trying to avoid Saul and his army, who kept getting tipped off about David's location.
The pursuit went from David's house, to Ramah, to Naioth, to Nob, to Gath ( the town Goliath was from) that didn't go well, so he fled to Adullam and to Mizpah, to Keilah, to the Desert of Ziph, but again, the Ziphites went to Saul and told him of David's hiding place, so David fled to find refuge with the Philistines at Ziklag.

(1 Samuel 27:1-7 )

While David is at Ziklag, the Philistines go and attack the Israelites. At first David and his men had volunteered to go and fight with the Philistines against Israel, but on their way to the battle ground, the chiefs of the Philistines convince their King to send David back, to avoid having David turn on them in the middle of the battle.
David goes back to Ziklag only to find that his town had been raided, all their wives and children taken captive, all their belongings carried away, and all their houses burned. This would have been enough to discourage even the strongest, most spiritual believer! But David doesn't give up, he inquires of the Lord, gets the okayto go fight the Amalekites and take it all back, and he succeeds. A few days later he finds out that the Philistines had won the battle against the Israelites, and that Saul was dead.

"After this David inquired of The Lord, "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?" And The Lord said to him, "Go up." David said, "To which shall I go up?" And He said, "To Hebron." So David went up there, .........and they dwelt in the towns of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah." (2 Samuel 2:1-4 RSV)

David had been anointed by Samuel to be king some 15 years prior to this point, but he didn't get his crown, nor his place of honor over night. Neither did he get there without a fight.
It would have been much easier for David if Saul had just stepped down from the throne and let David take the place God had given him, but it's not always that easy, especially when it comes to God raising His people up to a place of authority. Our enemy will try to hold on to his throne in the hearts of men and won't give up without a fight.
So there's David, anointed to be king but running for his life. It took him 10 tries, 10 different hiding places, the last being right in the middle of the Philistines at Ziklag, until deliverance came. He had gone from great (after killing Goliath), to good, to bad, to worse, to worst possible. There was no lower place for him to go than finding refuge at his enemy's side.

But although Ziklag was the lowest point for David, especially after it got raided by the Amalekites, it was also the last stop before the victory. David didn't give up, he kept a pure heart towards the Lord, and kept pressing on even in the lowest low. And that's when his deliverance came, that's when his biggest enemy was moved out of the way, and he was able to return to his city and take possession of what was rightfully his, the throne.

It took a while, it took suffering, prayer, determination, and endurance, but the lowest point of Ziklag was just a few days before the crown of Judah. Had he given up at Ziklag, Judah may have never become a reality.


With all his mistakes and sins, the Bible still describes David as a man after God's own heart. Victory wasn't easy or fast for this anointed man of God. The Lord had some training to do in David's life before he could lead God's people as king. It is possible that victory might have come sooner had David made less mistakes and sought God more before every one of his decisions. He did make some poor choices which may have cost him extra training time, extra battles, extra suffering. But in the end, he kept God number one in his heart, and that's why he was a man after God's own heart. That’s the reason God raised him up, that’s why he got his crown.

It is my prayer that this will encourage you to hold on to God in the midst of your time of trials and testing. Do not give up. In due time, if you are a person after God’s own heart, He will raise you up.


Life is NOT easy, but if you've placed your trust on Jesus, and have given Him your heart, then He is in control of all the circumstances of your life. Therefore, when trials come the best course of action is:
PRAY,
TRUST HIM TO TAKE CARE OF IT,
AND DON'T LET THE ENEMY BRING FEAR AND DOUBT INTO YOUR HEART.
God has promised to bring deliverance to His people,

Psalm 32:7 (NIV)

You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.

2 Samuel 22:2 (NIV)

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;




2 Timothy 4:18 (NIV)

The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

His Word says it, we believe it, and that settles it!
Be Blessed and Encouraged.
In Christ,
ServingHim