{"id":4900,"date":"2019-09-09T20:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T03:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=4900"},"modified":"2019-09-08T21:42:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T04:42:21","slug":"2chronicles_20_20-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2chronicles_20_20-37\/","title":{"rendered":"Worship Is Your Weapon Against the Enemy"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Chronicles 20:20-37\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Chronicles 20:20-37.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 20:20 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 20:\u00a0\u00a0As Jehoshaphat\u2019s men set out for the Desert of Tekoa to face their attackers early in the morning, Jehoshaphat gives his men a word of encouragement.\u00a0\u00a0He encourages them to have faith in the Lord and in His prophets as their key to success.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. One of the best things you can do at the beginning of each morning as you set out for the day is to feed on the encouragement of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Even if you normally have your GAME time later in the day, there is great value in getting some of God\u2019s Word \u2013 even a verse \u2013 into your mind to.<\/li>\n
  2. Your success goes hand in hand with how well you follow and trust God and your God-given leaders.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    2 Chronicles\u00a020:21\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
    \n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to theLORD, for his love endures forever.”<\/em><\/p>\n

    On verses 21-23:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Guess who Jehoshaphat gets to lead the charge as his army gets ready to face their enemy?\u00a0\u00a0Not soldiers but singers!\u00a0\u00a0Men armed not with swords or bows but with songs of praise.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Worship is a form of warfare.\u00a0\u00a0Worship is your weapon against the enemy.\u00a0\u00a0When we work, we work, but when we pray and worship, God works.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0In this case, as the people begin to worship and praise, the Lord turns Judah\u2019s attackers against one another, such that they end up destroying and immobilizing one another.\u00a0\u00a0As God promised, the army of Judah defeats their attackers without even having to fight.<\/p>\n

    2 Chronicles 20:24-27 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
    \n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
    \n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value–more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.
    \n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the\u00a0LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    On verses 24-28:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After discovering a great amount of plunder that their attackers left behind, Jehoshaphat\u2019s men assemble in the Valley of Beracah to give God praise.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cValley of Beracah\u201d (v26) literally means \u201cvalley of praise\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Jehoshaphat then leads his people in continuing to give God worship in the temple (v28).<\/p>\n

    What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Notice that Jehoshaphat does not just lead his people to worship the Lord\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0the victory but after as well.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t just draw close to God and praise Him when you\u2019re in need. When God answers your cry, delivers you or gives you victory, be sure to celebrate before the Lord and give Him the praise that He is due (e.g. Luke 17:11-18).<\/strong><\/p>\n

    2 Chronicles 20:29-30 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
    \n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had fought against the enemies of Israel.
    \n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.<\/em><\/p>\n

    On verses 29-30:\u00a0\u00a0God turns an undesirable situation \u2013 an attack by foreigners on Judah \u2013 into an opportunity for His glory to be shown, for more people to fear His name, and for God\u2019s people to experience even more of His peace.\u00a0\u00a0Whenever you\u2019re going through difficult circumstances, remember that God is working and proclaim that God will turn this difficult situation into a story for His glory<\/strong>, that ultimately God\u2019s name will be lifted up and you will experience blessing and peace that you otherwise would not have experienced.<\/p>\n

    2 Chronicles\u00a020:32, 37 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
    \n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD…
    \n37\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.<\/em><\/p>\n

    On verses 31-37:\u00a0\u00a0Of all the kings of Judah, Jehoshaphat stands out as one of the most God fearing and faithful.\u00a0\u00a0However, it seems that an ongoing weakness of Jehoshaphat was creating alliances with people who do not fear God \u2013 first Ahab in chapter 18, and then Ahaziah in verse 35-37 of chapter 20.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because of these unwise and ungodly alliances, Jehoshaphat experienced a lot of unnecessary trouble, stress and loss (e.g. v37).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0No matter how God-fearing you are, God will not necessarily stop you from making foolish relationship choices.\u00a0\u00a0He allows us to make our own choices regarding relationships and to face the consequences that arise from those choices.\u00a0\u00a0If you are unwise in whom you partner with, you will inevitably suffer unnecessary trouble, stress and loss.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t make life more difficult for yourself than it already is: be wise in whom you partner with.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me worship as a weapon to fight the enemy.\u00a0\u00a0Praise You for all the ways You have been good to me.\u00a0\u00a0Please give me wisdom to live in a way that is pleasing to You today.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

    Today\u2019s passage is 2 Chronicles 20:20-37.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

    2 Chronicles 20:20 (NIV)\u00a0
    \n20\u00a0\u00a0Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”<\/p>\n

    On verse 20:\u00a0\u00a0As Jehoshaphat\u2019s men set out for the Desert of Tekoa to face their attackers early in the morning, Jehoshaphat gives his men a word of encouragement.\u00a0\u00a0He encourages them to have faith in the Lord and in His prophets as their key to success.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

    One of the best things you can do at the beginning of each morning as you set out for the day is to feed on the encouragement of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0\u00a0Even if you normally have your GAME time later in the day, there is great value in getting some of God\u2019s Word \u2013 even a verse \u2013 into your mind to.
    \nYour success goes hand in hand with how well you follow and trust God and your God-given leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4900"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4903,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900\/revisions\/4903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}