"WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN HAD"

Have you ever felt like you fought a loosing battle?

I know that life can take sudden turns for the worse and when that happens we tend to react with panic, fear and sometimes even feel like running for our lives. Isn't this so true of almost everybody in the world today? Yes, there are still a few unusual people who bow their backs, hold their heads high and will fight on to the death. There are those people who will begin to plan another strategy and another angle of attack to hold off the approaching army, but there are times when even those brave and stubborn people must realize that they too must seek help to win.

In the Word of God we find a King who had just experienced that feeling of fear and panic and just didn't know what he needed to do. His name was Jehoshaphat and he had just been given the message that he was going to be attacked, not by one, not by two, but by three armies. These armies were of the children of Moab, Ammon and the Ammonites. He was informed that the group was of a very great multitude coming from the sea and they were getting closer every minute. Don't you think that this king who had been placed over the children of Israel and had served the Lord in all his ways may have been a pretty fearless kind of guy? After all he had the Lord of all creation on his side! how would you have reacted to this message knowing that you had a much smaller army? Let's read a passage that shows his reaction to this message;

2 Chronicles 20:3-4 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 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. (For a way out & direction)

Wow! Can you believe that? It says that Jehoshaphat (the King) feared! What did he fear? He was afraid of the armies headed in his direction and he knew that he was in an impossible situation to escape alive. He couldn't help his feelings of fear and panic, BUT he could help how he responded to the news that had overwhelmed  him at that moment of surprise!

Haven't we all gotten surprises in our lives that shock us and leave us feeling helpless or in a total state of panic? Yes, I have experienced this and I know that anyone alive today has also been through this feeling and some may have even felt this way recently. My friend, let's learn from the reaction of this King to his fearful situation, his helpless situation. He had no hope of winning. He knew he was doomed to loose this battle and also to loose all that he had received from the Lord himself! What did he do though?

He set himself to the LORD! This means that he turned his face to the LORD and turned his attention to the LORD for help. Then he proclaimed to all of his kingdom to fast and pray. You see, the prayer and fasting come before the impossible over and over in the Bible. When I read this my first thought was of how the lack of food would have made the warriors of Judah even weaker physically as the armies of their enemies gained ground towards the great attack on their city. Knowing that they would grow weaker without food and continuing to proceed with the fast was a total move of faith in the LORD. As a matter of fact, it was the only choice that King Jehoshaphat had, that presented any chance of victory in this hopeless situation!

Think about this for a minute! Every life was in jeopardy and their very existence was at stake at this moment of their lives! Is this where you are in your life today? There are millions of people in the US right now that don't know where there sustenance will come from for the next day, week or month.

To be continued....

Hold fast and look to the LORD for a way, find a way to fast and meditate on thanking God for the way He is going to work in your life. Let's see how this situation turns out my next post.

"GOD PLANS TO PROSPER YOU"

Battles that are being fought over religion and theology will cease to exist when caring children of God follow Jerusalem's example in our passage. Stop focusing on theology and start practicing kneeology!

In our previous chapter, we were thinking about the attitude that we get when we know we can conquer the enemies or the problems in our life.
It's our human nature that causes us to jump up and start shouting victory and giving everyone high fives when we feel like we are out of danger. But we found that the nation of Jerusalem had not reacted in this way. Instead they followed the example of their king and fell down to their knees and fasted and prayed, thanking God and singing praises to the LORD for His protection and promise to get them through this impossible situation.

Are you in the middle of one of those situations or maybe someone you know is heartbroke and depressed over a situation in their life that seems almost hopeless or doomed? Do you or someone you know need a miracle right now?

That's what the nation of Judah and Jerusalem needed and God spoke to them as they were down on their knees praying and fasting. Sometimes we might even feel as though we can't get away from our situation long enough to be able to bow down and pray in silence for even just a few minutes. I have found myself escaping to the closet sometimes and kneeling down in the darkness with the smell of shoes in my face so I can find some time all alone with my LORD! Maybe you haven't been that desperate before, but it works when your getting anxious and fearful of the things in your life that can start to overwhelm you!

Is it possible that you aren't being attacked at all in life, but rather you are the one always on the offence? You are always in control in your life and no one ever gets the best of you because you are one step ahead of them! Maybe you are one who is always thinking of ways to get what others may have or to fudge the rules a little to make sure you get something for yourself when you walk away from a situation. Could it be that you have left a trail of bodies where ever you have been, only taking what you wanted to gain and feeling no compassion on anyone else that trusted you and cared about you. Would you fit the part of the approaching army in this passage that we are studying? Taking over and running off those who can't defend themselves against your forceful and demanding spirit! If so, there is still hope for you too! Believe it or not, what I am about to tell you isn't just for someone who is being attacked and has found themselves cornered and helpless.

Jehoshaphat and the entire nation had fell to their knees to fast and pray when they found themselves in this hopeless situation and the Spirit of God spoke to them all and told them it wasn't going to be their battle , but the LORD's. That's when the Levites began to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high in 2Chronicles 20:19. Their response was exactly what the LORD had expected and not only that, but it was what He wanted to hear!

The LORD wants to hear our voices today when we are going through the worst storm ever or when we face an impossible mountain to climb! We have the same promises today as the children of Israel had so many years ago because there is no time with God and He is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow.

The next morning they rose early and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. If you have ever fasted when praying for something big in your life, you know that it isn't easy to sleep late. Those hunger pains wake you up real early as your body cries out for something to eat! I would imagine that they didn't just roll out of bed and head out to the wilderness that morning. They had been fasting for at least 24 hours by this time and they could feel that pain in their gut reminding them to drop to their knees as they rolled out of bed that morning and praying for their families protection and survival as they approached the mighty armies that longed to take their lives and all their possessions!

Maybe it was winter time and the floor was cold as they knelt down to pray; reminding them of the coldness of their enemy's heart as they prayed with compassion for the souls of those who would die that day.

If we are kneeling daily my friend, we will be raising up our enemies before God as well as our own need for a miracle! It is the love and grace of God that freed Jerusalem that day and that same love is offered to every man alive today! Even to those who wish to persecute you and take from those who are helpless! Same God! Same Grace! Same Gift of Protection!

Let's look at what Jehoshaphat said after they went out to the wilderness;

2Chronicles 20:20....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.

Believe! The word "believe" in the Hebrew is "aman" which means literally "to build up or support". Knowing that this is what this word means, look at both places where "believe" is used in this passage. The first time is "Believe in the LORD your GOD" and the second time is "believe his prophet" and "prophet" in the Hebrew literally means "inspired man".

So, who is God that we are to believe in today? God is the same always! Right? Now ask yourself," Who is the prophet or inspired man of God today?". God has been inspiring men down through the ages to proclaim God's message, but the real men of God are those men who are getting down on their knees in compassion for the lost people in our world.

One more thing in this particular passage to take note of is the literal Hebrew translation of the word "established". In verse 20 we read, "....Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established;".

Judah is told by Jehoshaphat to, "believe(build up or support) in the LORD your God, so ye shall be established(built up or supported).

Pay close attention to what I am about to show you in this passage! The same word "aman" that is the Hebrew for the word "believe" in this verse is also exactly the same Hebrew word for the word "established" at the end of this passage! Jehoshaphat was telling the nation of Judah and Jerusalem, "Aman Yhovah Elohiym, aman; aman nabiy, tsalach." Wait! I'll translate the literal Hebrew for you!

"Believe and Support Jehovah Elohim and He will support YOU; believe and support the inspired man of God and you'll experience prosperity."

Jehoshaphat was telling his nation to believe in God and to believe the words of a man who stood up in the midst of them that had been inspired by the Holy Spirit.

That inspired man wasn't the king! He wasn't the Priest! He was a man that God had chosen! A man who had been willing to fast and pray and believe in the true God! Does that describe any of the children of God today?

Jehoshaphat the king had cried out to God! Have you cried out in desperation to God when you didn't know what to do?

2Chronicles 20:12 .....neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

ALL of Judah had stood before the LORD! Have you taken your whole family before the LORD in time of trouble?

2Chronicles 20:13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

The Spirit of the LORD came into the middle of Judah and spoke to a man! Could God speak to you today if His purpose was to use you to proclaim His message to others?

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; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. (prospering you!)

Jehoshaphat, the king bowed with his face to the ground and thanked God! The nation of Israel also bowed to the ground and prayed for deliverance!

God heard their cry and saw their fasting and overcame those who wished to do them harm!

Jehoshaphat and the whole nation of Jerusalem spent the next three days carrying home the beautiful armor and riches from the battlefield following the battle that God fought for them!

BUT REMEMBER!

Judah prospered exceedingly from a fight that the LORD their GOD fought for them!

Could we be missing the prosperity of God by our unbelief?

We often let our own vast knowledge, education and theology keep us from experiencing the prosperity of simple kneeology! Kneeology is what God teaches us when on our knees in prayer before the LORD our GOD. IT WORKS!