Day: July 2, 2020

Today’s lesson is taken from 2 Chronicles 20: King Jehoshaphat is being faced with war against the enemy- the Moabites and the Ammonites. So starting with verse 2 let’s look at what he did to handle the situtation. “Some people came and told Jehosphaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar. (that is, En Gedi).” Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people ofJudah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. The Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly ofJuda and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front ofthe new courtyard and said:”Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no on can withstand you. Our God did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgement, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to ou in our distress, and you will hear us.” ” But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt, so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. Our God will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” All of the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones stood before the Lord. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah,the son ofJeiel, the sone of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph as he stood in the assembly. He said, “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” This passage is as true today as it was during the time of King Jehoshaphat. We in our simple minds believe that the battle is ours. Oh how untrue that is.We are led by the devil to believe that we are in charge of every battle and every war there is on earth. We are led to believe that we control the outcome of the virus, and the protesting, the rioting, the looting, the hate, the turning against each other, you name it. The devil leds us to believe we are in control. He uses those who are in “charge” to led us to believe they are in control. Oh how blind is he who will not see. We are no more in control of any of this than Jehoshaphat was in control of the battle that was on the horizon. Just like God was waiting for Jehoshaphat to ask for help along with all of the people not just the men or a handful of folks, but all of the people down to the wee ones, he is now waiting for us as a whole to ask for his help. For us as a nation, a world, a people to come together to ask for his help. What is wrong with us? Why do we not understand that God is in charge. God is the one we turn to – God holds it all in his hands. We are in control of nothing. Not even the air we breath. How haughty, and self serving we have become. How selfish and inward we have turned. Since folks have tried everything else from shutting down the country, to bankrupting businesses, to trying to force people to wear masks, just to name a few things, what harm will it do to cry out to God, to ask him to fix the mess we have made. To cover us in his grace and forgivness. Or are we too steeped in the Devil’s lair and too bogged down in his lies? It is time Ladies and Gentlemen to understand – we are nothing without God. We are nobody without God. We have nothing without God. It is time to put God back at the helm, not the politicans, not the medical experts,not the masses, not the people with enough opinions to sink a ship, but God the one who created the earth and all that is in it. God the one who can take it all back with a word. It is time to be like Jehoshphat and the people of Israel.Time to come together and fall down at the throne of God and beg for help. #god,#godisincharge,#wearejustmen