THE FATHER, THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE ROCK - AUDIO LINK
2 CHRONICLES 20: 1 - 21
King James Version
1 It came to pass after
this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them
other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a
great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and,
behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout
all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of
Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem,
in the house of the Lord,
before the new court,
6 And said, O Lord God
of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the
kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so
that none is able to withstand thee?
7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this
land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend
for ever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein
for thy name, saying,
9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or
pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for
thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt
hear and help.
10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir,
whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of
Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy
possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against
this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our
eyes are upon thee.
13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their
children.
14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the
son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the
Spirit of the Lord in
the midst of the congregation;
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor
dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but
God's.
16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the
cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the
wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand
ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with
you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against
them: for the Lord will
be with you.
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and
all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the
children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the
wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear
me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be
established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers
unto the Lord, and that
should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to
say, Praise the Lord; for his
mercy endureth forever.
Upon
reading this very powerful scripture we cannot help but to think of our present
circumstances, specifically when we read verse 9 mentioning “evil cometh upon us, as
the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine.”
Not only are these words applicable to now, but also remind us of the
four horseman of the apocalypse. There
are no coincidences. When Jehoshaphat was
surrounded by a great multitude of armies the word says, “He feared”. To this he set himself to seek the Most High
and declared a fast. Words like fear,
anger and sadness have unfortunately become somewhat of swearwords when it comes
to the Christian community. Fear, like
anger and sadness are as natural to man as breathing. The bravest men are brave not because of the
absence of fear, but because of it. It is what causes them to rise above what
they are facing, especially during times of war. Ask anyone when they went to war, whether
they had fear, and all from the general to the lowest rank would answer, “Yes”.
To this I ask, “Have we
asked the Father why He is allowing us to experience such extremities at this
present time?” Have we asked Him what He
is personally showing us, not the whole of the church, but ourselves? What is He showing you about your heart? The issues of life flows from without the
heart, and therefore we cannot separate what is presently happening from what
He is personally doing in us. Quoting an
unknown author…
“In all the manifold single events He never loses His outlook over
the whole. In all the great events, He
never forgets the small matters. In the
universal history, never the personal life story. In the course of centuries, never the
happenings of the seconds.”
The answer to my question is that if anything, just like Jehoshaphat, it
is to bring us to our ultimate end, our death and particularly the death of any
reliance on anything but Him. No less
than what the Israelites felt when facing the Red Sea and knew that there is
only One that can save them. And as said
in Hebrews 12,
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised,
saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those
things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which
cannot be shaken may remain.
The
shaking has indeed begun, whether physically with all the natural disasters or in the church, as well as the world. One thing
we know, it has begun. But to what end? So that those things which cannot be shaken
may remain. It is as if His children do
not see that it is He who is doing the shaking, that it is He who is bringing
us to dust and to know that without Him we can do nothing. In this shaking there is only one safe
place.
PSALM 62: 7
7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and
my refuge, is in God.
There
is no other safe place for His children in a time of trouble. Father gave me two Psalms to meditate and memorize
in the time we are in, Psalm 27 and 24.
I was going through my devotionals and have noticed that the words that
He has given me address from January the fact that He desires His
children to seek His face. Like
Jehoshaphat we are to set our face to seek Him as we too are surrounded by a multitude
of armies. Psalm 27 and 24 addresses the
same issue in a time of trouble. In
Psalm 27: 8 David says, “When thou said, “Seek ye My face.” My heart said, “Lord, thy face I will seek.” There was a commandment that came from the
Most High and David committed to this in earnest. Why?
Verse 2 and 3 tell us why.
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to
eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear:
though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
What
will he be in confident? The answer in verse 4.
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
David is not confident in his own army or in his
counsellors or his fame. He is confident
because of his disposition. What he
desires, what he seeks after, what he wants to behold and to enquire. In a time of war these may seem as
foolishness, but not to the Davids and Jehoshaphats of this world. And why is David so secure even in the midst
of war and the wicked coming up against him? Because from out
of that place, the house of the Lord, His temple, David can say…
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in
the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will
sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
Note
that this follows the same pattern as 2 Chronicles 20. Only from out of the place of seeking His
face, can we come out with boldness and security. Psalm 24 starts with the following words…
PSALM
24
1The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell
therein.
2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the
floods.
Right
from the start we are confronted with whom we have to do here. The Creator and sustainer of all things, the
Beginning and the End. And then a very
pertinent question is asked, so as to let us know that not anyone is privy to
this privilege.
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place?
The answer is clear. Those who have clean hands, a pure heart, who
has not lift up their soul unto vanity, nor have sworn deceitfully. This is the generation that seek Him, who
seek your face, O Jacob.
We
have established now that in a time of trouble we are to seek His face, but now
we learn that those who can come into the hill of the Lord and stand in His
Holy place, need to have certain requirements met, as mentioned in verse
4. Just like Moses who had to ascend up
the mountain, as he was called to come up and “be” there by the Most High, he
was required to leave all behind to climb the hill of the Lord. He had to leave the noise, the demands, and
the pressure, all of that to go up to meet face to face with the Most High. He had to set himself to meet with Him and there to receive the commandments. This then echoed by the question of “Who can
stand in His holy place?” where Moses had to meet the perfect requirements of
building the Ark of the Covenant where he was told that there the Most High would
meet him between the cherubims and give him and Aaron commandments. There He would speak to Him face to
face.
There
is only one way to the Father and that is through His Son, Yashua. The Most High is known by many names, as The
Almighty, the Creator of all things, I AM, Everlasting Father and many
more. Enoch said that the Son came from
the bosom of the Father. He was and has
always been in the bosom of the Father and was sent to this earth to be the way
to the Father and also to show us the Father.
Out of all the things the Most High could have decided as a mission for
His Son, He chose that Yashua would show us the Father. This was profound to the disciples, because up
to that time nobody referred to the Most High as “Father” and hearing Yashua
say, “In this manner you must pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven…” was so
revolutionary and paved the way to a very personal and intimate relationship as
never before. An understanding of the
Father and our perception of Him is pivotal to our foundation as His children
and how we perceive life. Everything is
influenced by our view of Him as our Father.
Who the Son is in character and deed is who the Father is. This is because He said…
JOHN 5: 19 – 20
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what
things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that
himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may
marvel.
Everything
the Son did was for this express purpose, to show us the Father. This is also why Paul said that Yashua is the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power. Who the Son was and what He did was to
express the Father to us. It is
therefore reasonable for us to consider just how important it is that we are to
know Him as our Father the way He intended it.
I grew up having a poor example of what a father should be, never mind
the heavenly Father. My earthly father’s
word was as frivolous as the weather and not to be trusted. It could change any given moment. This caused me to not trust any men and
consequently my experience with men became a self-fulfilled prophecy of one
disappointment after the other. I grew bitter,
angry and resentful. Rebellion was my
way to say that I will not be told by anyone who or what I can do, and that I
would look after myself, seeing that nobody else will. There was a lot more to my personal history,
but you get the point. My identity was
what I made it, whatever mask I wanted to put on. All the while, I myself did not know who I
was or to whom I belonged. My view of a
father and authority was marred and skewed and therefore my foundation from
which I lived my life was not solid. To the same degree that it was the Son who
were to show us the Father, the enemy took it upon him to ensure that that view
would be skewed and marred. If that is
in place, he would have no game. And
ever since he has been hard at work to this very end. Successfully so.
Within
all of us there is a deep-seated desire to be found by our Father. To know who we are and to return to the bosom
of the Father. This desire was placed by
Him in us. “Before you were born, I knew
you. I was there when you were formed in
the depths of the earth.” And like the
prodigal we only truly are home when we return to the Father. When we feel His warm embrace and kiss on our
cheek. When we see the smile that
reaches His eyes filled with unconditional love and are held to His bosom. This is home.
Here we are found. Here we have
our beginning and our end. Here we are
loved. This is the journey back
home. And because of our view of the Father
so marred by those who were supposed to love us and those who abused their
authority, we can relate to Yashua, but not to the Father. Many are there who cannot authentically say “Abba
or Father”. Some may get it right to say
it, but within they are aware that they are not doing this out of a real felt
experience of coming home at last. We
trust Yashua, but not quite the Father.
In the
midst of fear ruling the roost so to speak in the world out there, trust is the
issue that stands before us. The word
says that perfect love casts away all fear.
And yet as I look at the fruit presently displayed amongst his children,
I see fear, anger, rebellion, bitterness and if anything a great mistrust. Rightfully Yashua asked, “Shall the Son of
Man find faith when He returns?”
Ultimate crisis reveals ultimately and what we are about, what comes out
of our mouths, reveals the true state of our heart. Exactly as it was with Peter where his “I
will die for you” turned into “I do not know this man!” And is this not exactly what we are
portraying by our rebellion, bitterness and fear, “I do not know Him?” Are we not now saying, “I do not know the
Father?” Not because we are denying Him,
but the fact that our foundation has been marred and deep down we just
simply do not trust Him. Proverbs says
wisdom is known by her children. Let’s
read what wisdom’s children are not like and are like.
JAMES
3: 13 - 18
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him
shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory
not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil
work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make
peace.
Are we
led by the wisdom that is from above or from below? For everything there is a season and a
time. There is a time to break down, and
a time to build. A time to pluck up and
a time to plant. A time for war and a
time for peace. But all of these are to
be done with the wisdom that is from above.
In Matthew 7 Yashua warned the disciples
that in the last days ravenous wolves will be amongst us. That they will come to deceive. We know them as wolves in sheep’s
clothing. In other words, they look like
one of us, but in their hearts they are not.
I believe these wolves have come recently to devour the church not from
without, but from within. They are also
influenced by the spirit of rebellion that is presently influencing the church,
not by the wisdom from above which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and
easy to be entreated, full of mercy, but rather from the wisdom that is of
below, being bitter, is earthly,
sensual, devilish, full of envying and strife, bringing confusion and every evil work. Wisdom is known by her children.
I received a dream from Father last week. At
first I thought it to be a dream for my daughter, but later realized it is for
the church. The reason I thought it was just for my daughter is because she
suffers from anxiety disorder. However, I later realized that it is a warning
for the church and that my daughter resembles the children of the Most High in the dream.
The dream:
I dreamed that my daughter and I were riding a
tandem bike on a very busy street. We reached a T-junction. It was either left
or right. On the left were chaos and lawless people. On the right it did not
look much better, but we went right. As we turned I saw within my dream, a
vision of a woman with pitch black long curly hair, almost like a crown around
her, like a black son. She was crying and bemoaning all the pain she felt.
Grieve stricken and very emotional. We then went straight ahead and right above
us appeared pitch black crystals from the sky, almost the size of a house. At
the end of these tube like crystals were faces of demonic wolves, with eyes
looking as if they were on fire. They were growling, murderous and very scary.
I just told my daughter to not mind them, to look away and just go on. We were
calm.
The next moment, right in the middle of the road
were a pack of angry Rottweilers charging at us. They were aggressive and their
bark was very loud. Once again I told my daughter to continue and go pass them.
As we did, the Rottweilers became black mist.
End of dream.
Interpretation:
There are 2 woman in this dream-
The woman who cries and is fear and pain driven;
And the other woman calm, focused and using wisdom
Think of the two woman in the book of proverbs.
They were both wanting the attention of the man. Fear and wisdom are presently
wanting the attention of the church.
My daughter and I resemble the church and wisdom.
I am directing her to stay focused, to stay calm and listen to my instructions. The other woman is crying and is basically out of
control. In fact, her pitch black hair was the same as the wolves and dogs.
This told me that anxiety and perplexity have overcome her to actually overtake
her mind.
The demonic wolves resemble that which is in the
heavenlies. The wolves so to speak have been let loose. The black crystals are
linked to death and axiety, linked to Hinduism and Buddhism, which is the
goddess Cali connection. She is usually depicted blue black. I was also awoken
by the Spirit the same morning at 4:09, which in the Strong’s means "a
murderous spirit or murderer from the beginning".
The pack of dogs is the manifestation of that which
is in the heavenlies (the wolves), and at the heart of this murderous spirit is
intimidation, also the reason why they became mist..."smoke".
What is the message to us?
The message is that we have a choice whether we
want to be feelings driven or wisdom driven. We have to ride in tandem with the
Spirit of Wisdom in order to not be overcome by the spirit of intimidation. The
ONLY way to do this is to abide (ride) in Him and listen to His voice directing
us. This will not be with screams and loud noises to get our attention. We have
to come in step and walk pass the intimidation. He does not want us to make as
if there are no wolves or angry dogs, but we are to not continually meditate on
them and stay fixed on it.
His promise to us at this crucial time, "I
WILL KEEP HIM WHOSE MIND IS FIXED ON ME IN PERFECT PEACE".
The admonition from Paul to the Philippians to fix
their minds on that which is above, whatever is pure, holy, true and good etc.
was during a time of persecution.
When
considering the attributes of wisdom that is from above, we can see that what is
required of us is not to lean on our own understanding. Like Peter we would love to cut off the ears
of all the “Malchusses” or ask the Most High to send fire on our enemies. But it is here that we are to remember that
in a time of trouble we are to seek His face and come into the hill of the Lord
with clean hands and a pure heart. We are
to be angry, but not sin. At what point
do we sin when we are angry? Yashua said
that when we say to anybody "Raca" you shall be in danger of counsel or "fool" that
we are punishable with hell fire. Or
when we hate someone, we are guilty of murder.
We are told to forgive our enemies and pursue peace with all men, but if
we do not it would be considered as unclean hands and defiled hearts. Yet in a time of trouble we are to come and
hide in Him. What is required of us is
that which He is presently trying to do in us through all the shaking. Weakness.
In a world where we are inundated with cruelty, sickness, and control,
self-preservation is at the forefront of all our considerations. We can only receive the wisdom that is from
above when we go into the hill of the Lord.
There to meet our Father who desires that we will return to His bosom of
safety. He our Rock.
Yashua
said in Matthew 7 that only those who hears His voice and His commandments,
doing them, builds there house on the rock.
Once the storm comes, those who are not on the Rock, will not be able to
stand. We read in Genesis 49 the
following…
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were
made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the
shepherd, the stone of Israel.)
Here
we see that our Good Shepherd is the stone or the Rock of Israel. Yashua told Peter that upon this Rock the
church will be built and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He is our Rock. In a time of trouble this is where He sets us…high
on a rock. A Rock unmovable, a Rock
trustworthy, and a Rock that is safe. "Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee". There to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, in the secret of the Most High. Every time the church was persecuted from
Elijah hiding in a cave to David hiding from Saul, a rock was given to hide
in. They knew that there is a Rock that
is higher than them (Ps. 61:2). For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God? (2
Sam. 22: 32). And 1 Corinthians 10: 4
reminds us that it was from that spiritual Rock that they drank of in the wilderness. They remembered that God was their rock, and
the Most High their Redeemer (Ps. 78: 35).
He is the Rock of our salvation and there is no one holy like the Lord,
indeed there is no one besides Him, nor is there any rock like our God (1 Sam.
2: 2). In God is my salvation and my
glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God (Ps. 62: 7) and He is my rock and my fortress
(Ps. 31: 3).
This
is that hill of the Lord spoken of in Psalm 24, that Holy Place where we hide
in His side pierced for us. Being in Him
and He in the Father’s bosom, we become one in Spirit, and therefore nobody can
snatch us from the hand of the Father.
Here the sheep hears His voice and they follow Him. Only in Him there is no fear as He is the
express image of the Father…and God is love.
There is no fear, no death, no tears or despair in the bosom of the
Father. From this place we can with
authenticity say like Paul…
ROMONS
8: 36 – 39
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we
are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We do
not need to fight in our own strength, but in weakness we gaze in that Holy
place face to face upon the One who is able to save to the uttermost. The One who said, “I will never leave or
forsake you” and truly believe Him.
I was
talking to Father yesterday about his sheep that seems so scattered in this
present time. And as I was talking,
tears started running down my face continually.
I was surprised because I was not particularly sad at the moment. To which Father said, “It is My tears.” Father proceeded then to give me a word. A word I can safely say that comes from the
broken heart of our Good Shepherd who longs that His sheep would not only hear
His voice, but obey. Who longs to keep
them safe.
WORD – COME INTO THE FOLD
MY SHEEP ARE SCATTERED. SHALL A GOOD SHEPHERD IN A TIME OF DANGER
ALLOW HIS SHEEP TO GRAZE IN THE FIELDS AT NIGHT? SHALL HE ALLOW THEM TO CLIMB STEEP MOUNTAINS
AND HILLS WITHOUT HIS ROD AND STAFF? NO.
FOR I WATCH OVER MY SHEEP AND I WILL CALL MY OWN TO COME INTO THE SHEEPFOLD.
WHEN THE WOLVES SURROUND THEM, I CALL MY SHEEP TO ENTER.
YET WHO IS DEAF LIKE MY SHEEP WHO FOLLOW
THE NOISE OF THE TUMULT, WHO ALLOWS CURIOSITY TO CAUSE THEM TO GO ASTRAY. WITHOUT KNOWING THEY ARE MOVING FURTHER AND
FURTHER AWAY FROM ME.
ALWAYS I HAVE TO CALL THEM. THOUGH I LOVE MY SHEEP AND LAY MY LIFE DOWN
FOR MY OWN, THEY STILL INSIST TO GO THEIR OWN WAY. I HAVE CALLED AND CALLED, BUT THEY DO NOT
HEAR. I HAVE WARNED AND WARNED, BUT THEY
SHUT THEIR EARS.
IN A TIME OF DANGER, I CALL MY SHEEP TO
HIDE IN ME, IN THE SECRET PLACE. THERE TO
FEED THEM WITH MY WORD THAT WILL SUSTAIN.
THERE TO ANOINT THEIR HEADS AND CAUSE THEM TO FEAST AT MY TABLE. BUT LIKE THESE FALSE PROPHETS, THESE RAVENOUS
WOLVES, THEY FEAST AT JEZEBEL’S TABLE AND DO NOT EVEN KNOW IT.
THERE IS A PATH THAT MAY APPEAR AS LIFE,
BUT THE END OF IT LEADS TO DEATH. IT IS
A SNARE. YET MY SHEEP ARE OBSTINATE AND
REFUSE TO TURN TO ME. THEY REFUSE TO
HIDE IN ME. THEY ARE LED BY THEIR NOSE,
THEIR EYES AND EARS AND HAVE DROWNED THE STILL SMALL VOICE OF MY SPIRIT. THEY HAVE FORSAKEN THE TRUTH FOR "TRUTHS".
MY SHEEP KNOW MY VOICE AND ANOTHER THEY
WILL NOT FOLLOW. YET IN THESE DAYS
DISCERNMENT REQUIRES MORE. IT REQUIRES
WISDOM AND WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING.
COME MY CHILDREN, COME INTO THE FOLD AND
HIDE IN ME.
There
is a call going out from the Father at this moment that His children will seek
His face. A call to come and hide in
Him. To know that the earth is the Lord’s
and the fullness thereof, the world and all they that dwell therein. To return to the Father’s bosom, the only
safe place. From there we receive
instructions of what to do as Jehoshaphat did, as David did. So that His strength may be made perfect in
us. There we can be real. There we can come in and say “Father, I am
afraid.” There in the Holy Place to
stand in truth and lie not to ourselves, but in weakness, fear, anger and
sadness be real, that He may show Himself real to us. His promise, "When you seek Me with all your
heart, then you shall find Me". As much
as we want to be found by Him, the Father wants to be found by us. Rightfully Paul said in Acts 17: 27 that they should seek the Lord, if haply
they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of
us: Instead what happens is that
we refuse to break down, we refuse to lay our lives down and we refuse to
humble ourselves before the One who alone is our Refuge and our Rock. David said that the Lord is strong and
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle in Psalm 24.
This was after he sought the Lord in His Holy Place. The same is said of Jehoshaphat. Only after he set his face to seek Him in
prayer and fasting, could he hear the word of the prophet saying…
2 CHRONICLES 20: 15; 17
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor
dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but
God's.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand
ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with
you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against
them: for the Lord will
be with you.
What
is required of us is to stand still.
This standing still talks of a confidence that can only be found in the
secret place. To be still and know that He is God. In His wisdom He has
chosen the weak and foolish to display His strength and His glory. To reveal unto those who are as babes the
mysteries of the Kingdom. Vessels of
dust and subject to human frailty and the elements of this world. This will not be until we are brought to that
place of having no more means to fight. Bankruptcy
in ourselves and all our categories, until we look ONLY to Him. Setting our face before Him to seek Him. Psalm 24 says that it is to those who seek His face that receives the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Only once these conditions are fulfilled can
the King of Glory come in. Only then can
we with hearts filled with the Father's love and assurance cry, the battle is not
ours, but belongs to the Lord. Not by
might, not by power, but by His Spirit.
Amen.
