HANDLING THREATS
Memorise:
Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. .. Isaiah 41:11
Read:
2 Chronicles 20:1-30
Message
In Acts 4:1-31, the apostles were threatened by the chief priests and elders not to speak in the name of Jesus again. However, they gathered together to pray, and as they prayed, the place where they were gathered was shaken, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. The devil is a bully, and like all bullies, he does not like being confronted. If someone threatens you for doing the will of God, that is not the time to start fidgeting or hiding; that is the time to pray. In today's Bible reading, three great enemy nations came to threaten Jehoshaphat, and he was terrified. He felt threatened by the size of the enemies, and this led him to seek God. As Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah fasted and prayed, God gave them the strategy that would destroy their enemies - praise. As Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah began to sing and praise the Lord, He set the enemies against one another, and those who had previously been united against Judah suddenly turned against themselves and began to kill one another.
For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. ...2 Chronicles 20:23
God silenced the threats of the enemies without Jehoshaphat having to lift a sword. In the name above every other name, my Daddy will arise to silence every threat of the enemy against your life and destiny, in Jesus' name.
Some years ago, a woman came running to me, shaking badly. Her daughter was pregnant, and her enemies had come to threaten her, saying, "Your daughter is pregnant? We will see where she will deliver-whether on the ground or in the air. We will use every diabolical means to ensure she never gives birth." The woman was frightened, and I said to her, "Fear not! Your daughter will deliver safely." She asked, "How do you know?" I replied, "Because the Lord of Hosts will fight for you." Indeed, the Lord fought for her, and she delivered safely.
Beloved, I know a God who is stronger than the strongest. He can handle every threat that comes your way. when the enemy threatens you, do not be afraid. instead, put your trust in God because greater is He that is in you than he that in the world(1 John 4:4).
Bible In One Year:
Mark 1-3
Hymn:
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Prayer Point:
Father, please arise and silence every threat of the enemy against my family and destiny, in Jesus' name.
King James Version
2 Chronicles 20:1-30
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 Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. [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 for ever.
[22] And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. [23] For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. [24] And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. [25] And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
[26] And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. [27] Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. [28] And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. [29] And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. [30] So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
Christly Living