"Turning Your Battlefields Into Blessings" | Pastor Steve Gaines

take your Bibles and turn with me to second chronicles chapter 20 in just a moment we're gonna look at verses 1 through 30 I want to ask you have you ever had a problem I know the answer before I ask of course you have how do you turn those problems into blessings how do you turn a battlefield into a blessing when you come to Jesus the Bible tells us that we are going to have problems if we follow the Lord because this world has never been and never will be until the coming of Christ a friend of Jesus Christ we are aliens and strangers living in a foreign land heaven is our home Jesus is our Lord and Savior so sometimes on this planet we're going to have problems some of you are going through problems right now what do you do how do you deal with your problem do you just call everybody and try to get their advice is that the best we can do no God gives us a pattern in 2nd chronicles 20 and I want to say this to you I've been walking with the Lord for almost 40 years living over 40 years now and I've been preaching for almost 40 years and I'm telling you this is a divine pattern given to us in these 30 verses here in second chronicles chapter 20 and I'm telling you if you will write this down if you will get this in your heart God will use this to help change your life I'm not being just emotional I'm not just trying to drum up some kind of emotion not at all I'm not just telling you some things that I read in the Bible I'm telling you some things that I have actually experienced I have seen God work in my life and deal with problems in my life in the manner in which this man dealt with this problem I'm telling you this can be a word that will change your life there are some sermons that are just absolutely pivotal and I believe this is one of them so let's look at it turning your battlefields in the blessings for things number one your problems are not always are necessarily punishment I can't tell you how many times I have felt like when I came into a problem in life that why is God punishing me well many times that's not the case regular folks who follow the Lord still have problems look at verse 1 now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon together with this some of the me unites came to make war against Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat the great man of God the king of Judah one of the good guys it came about after this that these three nations come after him he's got a problem he has this huge army that's coming against him and I love what verse 1 says it came about after this after what you have to read the previous chapter to find out really you have to go back to chapters we're in chapter 20 go back to chapter 18 don't turn there just listen Jehoshaphat made a very unwise choice he had United the armies of Judah that were under him with the wicked King Israel to go against a foe and you might remember that guy's name his name was a hab and Ahab was a wicked man with a witch of a wife named Jezebel when you say Jezebel I mean that's about as bad as it gets in the Old Testament so here he had gotten together and they had pooled their sources together he had combined his army of Judah with the army of this wicked King that was in chapter 18 but in chapter 19 God sent a prophet to him named Yahoo to rebuke him and I loved it rather than getting upset rather than locking the preacher up for having the audacity to rebuke the king King Jehoshaphat repented one of the reasons I love him when he messed up he fessed up he then led Judah into reforms that led into a revival how did he do it by appointing now listen to this don't don't miss what I'm about to say how did they have a revival he appointed righteous judges let me just read to you a little bit out of second chronicles 19 beginning at verse 4 so Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord the god of their fathers how did he do it he appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah city by city he said to the judges consider what you're doing for you do not judge for man but for the Lord who is with you when you render judgment now then let the fear of the Lord the reverence for the Lord be upon you be very careful what you do for the Lord your God will have no part in unrighteousness our partiality our the taking of a bride in Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests and some of the heads of the father's household of Israel for the judgment of the Lord and a judge disputes among the inhabitants of Jerusalem then he charged them saying thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord faithfully and old heartedly whenever any dispute comes to you from your brethren who lives who live in your city their cities between blood and blood between law and commandment statutes and ordinances you shall warn them so that they may not be guilty before the Lord and wrath may not come on you and your brethren thus you shall do and you will not be guilty behold a Moriah the chief priest will go over you in all that pertains to the Lord and zebediah the son of ishmael the ruler of the house of judah and all that pertains to the king also the Levites shall be officers before you act resolutely and the Lord be with the upright don't tell me that political and judicial leadership doesn't matter course it does this King was appointing righteous judges and Judah was changed because they had godly righteous judges given to them by a righteous leader consequently those righteous judges ruled righteously of course and Judah experienced blessings I just want to tell you that's exactly why it's so very important who we elect to be the president of the United States because the way our system is set up in America the president of the United States appoints he nominates and appoints the members of the Supreme Court of the United States and also other judges throughout the land so I think we need to be careful about the kind of president that we elect in the United States we need a president of the United States that will appoint Supreme Court of the United States judges who are pro-life anti-abortion pro biblical marriage anti homosexual marriage pro Constitution anti progressivism or liberalism Pro capitalism anti socialism or communism Pro religious liberty anti secularism or atheism Pro American anti-globalization and Pro biblical family anti secular village we need people who love the Lord Jesus Christ as judges on the Supreme Court and across the land Jehoshaphat appointed righteous judges to rule in the land and that was the right thing to do but even though he did the right thing problems came to him how do we know that the devil didn't stir up those other people it says it came about after this after he appointed righteous judge judgments and justices that the sons of Moab the sons of Ammon together with some of the me unites those are the came to make war against Jehoshaphat just because you do what God says does not mean you won't ever have a problem hey listen to me Jesus was perfect Jesus is perfect he has never sinned but did you know that Jesus had problems Jesus had problems just because you have a problem doesn't mean that you have done wrong doesn't mean that God is disciplining you no I remember years ago I've been pastoring for almost 40 years and I remember years ago in a church I had a few people that didn't like something I did they just didn't like the way I led in a certain situation and they got mad at me and one of them wrote me a little note and said I love it when they write a note and they're not willing to talk to you face-to-face she wrote me a note and she said you know preacher she cited this verse proverbs 16:7 says when a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord he the Lord makes even his enemies to be at peace with him since we're not at peace with you that must mean that your ways are not pleasing to the Lord I said well you know that's really a weird way of looking at that verse because Jesus had people who were not at peace with him Jesus had people who hated him and wanted to kill him and yet he was perfect I asked her jesus had enemies were his ways not pleasing to the Lord the truth is Jesus enemies he had enemies because his ways were pleasing to the Lord but his enemies ways were not pleasing the Lord sometimes you'll have problems because other people are out of the will of God like the Moabites the ammonites and the are the me unites once someone gets upset with you that doesn't necessarily mean that you've done something wrong they could just be full of the devil trying to blame it on you just because you have problems does not mean that you are disobeying the Lord and when you obey the Lord that does not guarantee that the Lord will make you immune to problems your problems are not always punishment from the Lord now what do you do when you have a problem wherever it's from I'll tell you what you do number two you must give your problems to God in prayer you take it to the Lord in prayer look now in second chronicles 20 verse 2 then some came and reported to josh fat saying a great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea out of Arum and behold they are at Hayes's on Tamar that is in getti that's down by the Dead Sea Jehoshaphat soon learned of the evil plans of these enemies a great army of three powerful capable nations had joined together to come against him and how did he respond I love verse three because it speaks truth all these verses speak truth but it speaks so candidly Jehoshaphat was afraid I hear some people say ho it's such a sin to be afraid I love that the text plainly says that Joshua had Joshua fat was afraid it shows us that he was a real human being just like you and me he had emotions he had feelings he was afraid he reacted to bad news just like you and I he was afraid being afraid initially too bad use is not a sin it's what you do at that fear that matters when fear came upon him what did he do he turned to the Lord that's what you do with fear where people mess up is they turn in themselves or they turn to other people right off the bat instead of immediately when they have a problem turn to the Lord they were he was afraid Jehoshaphat was afraid and he turned his attention verse three to seek the Lord and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah sometimes people will say to me preacher how do you know when you're supposed to fast well I don't believe that God always just said okay it's time to fast I want you to fast for three days or 21 days sometimes he'll he'll speak to you about that but sometimes you just want to do it because in your heart you say you know what I'm just not pressing in to the Lord right now enough I need to fast more I need to pray more I don't understand fasting I don't understand prayer I don't understand grace I don't understand salvation I don't understand God but I believe in all of it and I'm telling you when it comes to prayer and fasting I'm a satisfied customer I'm not a some type of expert but I'm telling you this when I feel the least bit of being estranged from God are not really understanding what's going on immediately my mind and my heart goes to fasting it might be a meal it might be three meals there might be three days it might be seven days whatever it might be it doesn't really matter and you know if I get to heaven and God says gage you just passed it too much I can handle that I can handle that but I won't want to handle him say why didn't you fast more why didn't you seek me more why didn't you humble yourself well you know the Bible says if my people called by my name will humble themselves and pray humility there's talking about fasting it's when you do without food and you spend that time when you would normally eat in prayer and reading the Bible that's what fasting is and some of you out there saying I can hear you saying guys are I can't do that I take medicine so do I you you can fast you can fast you can do without one meal or maybe two meals or maybe three meals you can do it if you would do it God wants us to fast and he turns his attention to the Lord he proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah he turned his attention away from the problem that's what you got you can't focus on the problem and be right with God you got to focus on the one who will solve your problem get your focus off of the problem quit talking about the problem the more you talk about it's like oatmeal it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger quit building up the problem and look to the one who can solve the problem get your eyes on Jesus proclaim a fast he proclaimed a fast for all the people of Judah would to God that we would have leaders like that in our political offices today every citizen of Judah was going to be harmed by these armies so he said every citizen in Judah needs to consider not only praying but fasting and seeking the Lord and they responded look at verse 4 so Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord they just needed some leadership that's what we're lacking in America we don't have godly leadership we don't have people saying this is the way let's follow the Lord we need some jehosophat's pray for that I'm serious pray for that how we need men and women that will call us to prayer and to fasting Judah gathered together verse 4 to seek help from the Lord they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord then Jehoshaphat poured out his heart to God you have never read a more sincere prayer than the one I'm about to read to you he started off by praising and thanking God for how great God had been to him and to all the people of histor and all they had done for the people of his of Judah he says in verse 5 Jehoshaphat stood in the Assembly of Judah and Jerusalem he was a man that was out there with the people he wasn't off somewhere cloistered no he's standing in the Assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court you said Oh Lord don't forget that little word oh by the way some of us have lost our oh we don't we don't stand in fear and trembling before God we're not in awe of God anymore Oh Lord not just Lord Oh Lord the God of our fathers are you not God in the heavens and are you not ruler over the kingdoms of the nation's power and might are in your hand so that no one can stand against you he has not asked God for anything he's just praising God thanking him did you not or our God drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever they have lived in it they have built you a sanctuary there for your name saying should evil come upon us the sword or judgment or pestilence pandemic covet 19 our famine we will stand before this house and before you for your name is in this house and we will not just say a little prayer no we will cry to you we have lost the ability to cry out to God and I'm telling you I'm telling you it is time to cry out to God we cried out to you in our distress you will hear and deliver us and then he prayed specifically regarding the immediate need verse 10 and now behold the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir that's the whom you did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt parenthetically said they turned aside from them and did not destroy them see how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from your possession which you have given us as an inheritance and then Jehoshaphat prayed one of the greatest prayers in the entire Bible I believe these are probably the most famous words this man ever spoke while he was on this earth one of the most remarkable scriptures you need to memorize it you need to underline it you need to highlight it and you need to pray it listen to this Oh our guy always back there Oh our God now listen will you not judge them for we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us nor do we know what to do but our eyes are old you not on the problem but on you o our God o our God it's real God Judas God our God Bellevue's God o our God will you not judge them Lord we are powerless before these armies this multitude of three nations who are coming against us we've got a problem and we lay it before you nor do we know what to do you know one thing I believe in this cove at 19 thing nobody knows what to do except God I've been on so many zoom calls and calls about this and calls about that with the so called experts and they're all asking each other what do we do I'll tell you who knows what to do God God we need to cry out to God o our God will you not judge them for we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming gives us nor do we know what to do but what's the answer our eyes are all you our eyes are not on the scientist our eyes are on you you're the only one that can fix this our eyes are not only invaders our eyes are not on their armies we're not going to look at their armies no we're going to look on you we're gonna fix our eyes upon Jesus the author and finisher of our faith I can't tell you how much that verse blesses my heart is that not one of the most beautiful prayers you've ever seen I'll memorize it meditate on it pray it and then notice who was quietly listening to this king as he poured out his heart to God listen to this verse 13 all Judah was standing before the Lord now listen now with their infants because those people would have come they would have killed many of their children with their wives and with their children their little Bay bees that cry out to God they're joining in this crescendo of Prayer being led by their leader would to God that the President of the United States would pray like that what do God then we'd have US senators who would pray like that would to God that we'd have US House of Representatives and Supreme Court judges that would pray like that what did God that our governors across America would pray like that what did God that the state senators in the State House of Representatives in the state Supreme Court justice in the state judges would pray like that what did god that our mayor's would pray like that would to God that our City Council's and County Commissioners and aldermen and our police officers would pray like that what did God Oh God give us praying political leaders in the United States problems our problems have to be given to God in prayer have we trials and temptations is there trouble anywhere we should never be discouraged take it to the Lord in prayer can we find a friend so faithful who with will all our sorrows share Jesus knows our every weakness take it to the Lord in prayer nothing wrong with talking to other people but that's not your go to no the first thing you do is you take it to the Lord in prayer he was afraid he took it to the Lord in prayer Philippians 4:6 and 7 don't worry about anything instead pray about everything tell god what you need and thank him for all that he's done oh he's been so good to us then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus let your fear be a catalyst for prayer I want to say it again let your fear be a catalyst for prayer not for conversation with other people right off the bat no you can talk to people that's fine but I've got news for you they don't know what to do either when you have a problem you need to go to God first and foremost ask God to intervene o our God will you not judge them for we are powerless before this great multitude or come against us nor do we know what to do but our eyes are on you things happen when you pray that do not happen if you don't pray things happen when you pray that won't happen if you don't pray things are different after you pray then they were before you prayed prayer doesn't just change you and me I hear they'll say prayer doesn't change things prayer just changes you I Got News for You it changes things and it changes you simultaneously stop worrying stop it let your fear Drive you to prayer psalmist said in Psalm 55 verse 22 cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you when I think about casting my burden I just think about taking my hand and just throwing that burden up to the Lord in prayer I love to lift my hands when I pray cast your burden upon the Lord he will sustain you he will never allow the righteous to be shaken first Peter 5:7 casting all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you are you doing that are you casting your problems upon the Lord are you just talking to everybody we just met feeling bad although I don't feel good I've got a problem I'm gonna go talk to this for I go talk they listen to me they don't know what to do I'm not saying you never talk to you man but that's not your go-to that's not where you you seek first the kingdom of God and you seek first the king I wanna say this to you I believe in counseling but I don't I believe in I believe in the wonderful counselor he is the first person you go to talking to other people has its place but it always comes after talking with God in prayer you need to hear what God says more than you need to hear what any human being can say to you I'm telling you some of you are putting men and women that you talked to over the Lord when you have a problem stop it I'm not saying don't ever go to anybody I am saying before you do that pour out your soul to the Lord like Jehoshaphat did some of you need prayer more than you need counseling the counsel of the Lord stands forever the thoughts of his heart to all generations you must give your problems to God in prayer number three when you pray God is going to give you a promise Oh hallelujah glory to God you say what in the world you told me I'm talking about when you talk to God God talks to you when you when you pour out your heart to God God gives you a promise to stand on some people say you can't walk on water I think when Peter was walking on water he wasn't walking on water he was walking on the promises of God Jesus said get out of the boat he got out of the boat he was walking on the promises you can't walk on water that's impossible but it's not impossible to walk on the promises of God you stand on the promises we sang that the whole time I was a little boy joshie fat didn't didn't need a bigger army he didn't need a better plan he needed a word from God and look at me that's what you need you got a problem you need to go to God in prayer and I'm telling you when you go to God in prayer and you really get serious with God God will give you a promise what you need is a promise from God what you need is right here in this book God will give you a promise out he will give you a word from the word he will give you a Rhema from the Lagos then in the midst of the assembly verse 14 the Spirit of the Lord I love this came upon jahaziel son of Zacharias son of Barachias of ASA here's a man of God a preacher a descendant of a SAP one of the great song leaders and one of the great Levites under King David and he said listen all Judah I love that and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat King listen up all of you listen up this is not me talking this is God talking he said thus says the Lord to you do not fear put it down don't fear don't be dismayed because of this great multitude this mega multitude for the battle is not yours but God's right there I'll guarantee you right there Jehoshaphat said you know what I'm glad I fast that was worth missing a meal for right there praise God that was worth praying about right there God gave me a promise and there's more to it isn't that incredible already jahaziel addressing the king and the people don't fear don't be timid dismayed because of this great multitude don't fear don't be discouraged fear and discouragement are the two fangs of the devil that's what he likes to seek into you to paralyze you with fear to paralyze you with discouragement and some of you right now you're so messed up with fear and you're so messed up with discouragement you can't obey God you're so full of fear you can't walk in faith without faith it's impossible to please God you're so out of courage you're so discouraged you're saying woe is me and you know what the devil will do with that he will put you to place where you start feeling sorry for yourself and you will actually indulge in some sin that wouldn't take you down otherwise you would have anything to do with because you're discouraged and you feel so down and nobody understands that God's not really being good to me and all that junk then it's time for you to get out of that it's time for you to turn away from fear and turn away from discouragement and get a word from God and start walking with God walk in faith walk in courage take courage courage doesn't just walk up and grab you know you got to take it take courage discouragement is the devil depleting you of courage and you can't walk with God without faith and courage Oh be encouraged tonight God is speaking to you he encourages you he puts faith in you through his word through his word don't fear don't be discouraged because of this great multitude and then God commanded Jehoshaphat his people through this prophet he said in verse 16 tomorrow now listen to this go down against them behold and then God gives them strategic information they will come up by the ascent of ziz now I've never been to the ascent of ziz but God had alright and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jol don't you just love it god knew was gonna happen tomorrow guess what God knows what's going to happen in your tomorrow you don't and none of your friends do God is a better counselor than they are God knows what's going to happen down the road God knows what his will is for your life he said I'm telling you where they're gonna show up I'm telling you what's gonna happen before it happens and then look at this promise he goes on gives another promise he said in verse 17 you need not fight in this battle oh I love this now station yourself stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf Oh Judah and Jerusalem do not fear or be dismayed that's the second time you said it tomorrow go out to face them for the Lord is with you jehova shamma the Lord is with you he is present with you God with us yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not fear for thou art with me I'm not going to be afraid I'm not gonna be afraid of the devil I'm not gonna be afraid of these me you Knights and these ammonites and these Moabite so I'm not gonna be afraid of some great army now I'm not gonna be afraid I'm gonna walk in faith I'm not gonna be discouraged I'm gonna walk in courage I'm gonna walk with the promises of God God has given me a promise and I will not let the devil take it away Wow I'll say backwards Wow praise God God's given him a promise he could face the enemy the next day without fear he's going to go to the battlefield God touched the heavy heart of Jehoshaphat all he could do all this man of God could do in response was to bow down before the Lord look at verse 18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground and all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord worshiping Lord when's the last time you went into a church and the presence of God was so real that the preacher just bowed down and the people fell down on their face before God I'm not talking about this silly fallen ounce I'm talking about falling on your face before a holy God out of all before a holy God well that's what happened with Jehoshaphat he bowed his head and they all worshiped the Lord they fell down before the Lord remember Abraham in the Old Testament he had a problem he was an old man he had no heir no biological heir he was very old and God gave him a promise he said I'm gonna give you a child biologically through your elderly wife Sarah the bible says abraham believed in the lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness that's in genesis 15 and 25 years later Isaac was born and the Bible tells us Paul tells us in Romans 4 now listen this among the most precious Scripture I mean listen is it's about Abraham believing the promise that God gave him Romans 4 2021 nonetheless this is this is awesome telling yet with respect to the promise of God he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong what in faith giving glory to God and being fully assured say it with me now I know you're at home fully assured that what God had promised he was able also to perform hallelujah what God promises he's able to perform this prophet of God gave jahesh fent and the people of Judah a promise you don't have to fight this battle God's taking care of you go out to the battle tomorrow don't be afraid don't be dismayed God's gonna fight for you you don't have to do anything you say preacher that's not that's not realistic in today's world that's not realistic sure it is sure it is problems are not always punishment God's not punishing you just because you have a problem Jesus had problems he wasn't punishing Jesus and whenever we have a problem we give it to the Lord in prayer and God gives us promises and there is nothing I'm telling you there's nothing like a promise from God I remember when our son who is now 36 37 years old preaching the gospel in Middle Tennessee I remember when he was about to and we thought he had leukemia and God gave me a promise in the morning at about 4 o'clock out of Athey out of Exodus chapter 14 verses 13 and 14 the gods whom you see today you will never see them again the Lord will fight for you while you keep silent I'm telling you when I read that it burned in my heart I don't know you said how do you know that was a promise from God I don't know I don't know but I'm telling you I had the witness of the Holy Ghost in my heart and I hung on to that verse all day long and they finally told us it was not leukemia at the end of the day at a Children's Hospital in Fort Worth Texas God has given me promises over the years that have burned in my heart I could not live without the promises of God I can't do it not gonna do it Josh if I'd couldn't do it he gives you a scripture he gives you a promise in the whole world changes before your eyes but before that happens you got to seek the Lord in prayer you gotta let your problems Drive you to God in prayer and let your prayers secure a promise from God and when you pray God will give you his promise you said there's four points yes the last thing when God gives you a promise you need to trust him and praise Him look at verse 19 the Levites from the sons of the Khoa thights and the sons of the kora heights stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice some of y'all may not like the way I preach tonight you say we need to be calm cool and collected I Got News for you you better not go to heaven because they're not calm cool and collected up there they're shouting praises to God it's loud in heaven as loud in hell if you don't like loud don't die I'm not trying to be cute I'm just trying to tell you there comes a time the whole world is going crazy over nothing well be thanking God with loud voices that he is God that still brings us out of the miry clay well thank God when somebody gets saved what a thank God that's what they do in heaven they shout in heaven when somebody gets saved it ought to make us excited too did you notice that their praise was the very loud boys shout unto God with a voice of triumph the Bible says verse 20 then they arose early in the morning good things happen in the morning can't stay in bed and walk with God go to bed on time get up on time spend time with God they rose early in the morning they went out to the wilderness of Toccoa notice too that their prays took place early in the day they began the day by praising the Lord they saw it first the kingdom of God they didn't check their phones first they didn't check Twitter first no they checked the Word of God first they checked the Lord first Jehoshaphat led them as they went out to praise God and when they went out Jehoshaphat stood and said listen to me o Judah we're in verse 20 and inhabitants of Jerusalem put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established put your trust in his prophets and succeed trust in the Lord trust in his promises what he was saying he did an amazing thing he sent the choir and the orchestra if you will out in front of the army the army of worship preceded the army of war verse 21 we need to consulted with the people he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised him in holy attire as they went out before the army and said give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness his Hesed is everlasting and notice what happened when by faith they worshiped the Lord look at verse 22 here it is here's the miracle here's God coming through here's God fulfilling his promise here it is when they begin singing and praising the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon Moab and Mount Seir who had come against them so they were routed the Lord thought their battle for them how did he do it for the sons of Ammon verse 23 and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir they helped to destroy one another the enemies of the Lord started fighting one another the Moabites and the ammonites turned on the and after they killed all the then they killed one another I mean down to the last man the Lord turned these enemies of his people against one another they got confused they killed one another they hated each other and the Bible says when Jehoshaphat and his troops showed up the battle was already over exactly what he said was going to happen way back in verse 17 is it you want to find this battle I got this I got this verse 17 you need not fight in this battle remember that station yourself stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf Oh Judah and Jerusalem don't fear don't be dismayed tomorrow go out to face them for the Lord is with you amen God always keeps his promise always always verse 24 when Judah came to that look out of the wilderness they looked toward the multitude and behold there were corpses lying on the ground no one had escaped all their enemies were slaughtered and now they're gonna run into great wealth I'll get verse 25 when josh fatness people came to take their spoil they found much among them including Goods garments valuable things which they took for themselves more than they could carry and they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much and he thanked God he just thanked God now watch this I what was the title of my message turning battle fields into blessings where did I get that right here look at verse 26 then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of Baraka for they were blessed for their they blessed the Lord therefore they have named that place the valley of Baraka unto until today what does bear a commie it means blessing the valley of blessing God turned the battlefield literally they renamed it into the valley of blessing the valley of Baraka after that they went back home they were joyful conquerors look at verse 27 everyman of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head returning to Jerusalem with joy don't you know Jehoshaphat everybody his stock had gone up Amen I'm telling his stock as a leader has gone up and all it was was the blessing of God for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies they came to Jerusalem with harps Liars and trumpets to the house of the Lord and when their neighbors heard what God had done they left Jehoshaphat and Judah alone when their enemies learned it says in verse 29 and the dread of the Lord that is the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the land they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel the word got out don't mess with the people of God don't mess with Joshua fat don't mess with that Judah Bunch you know God's with them so the kingdom of Josh fat was at peace for his God gave him rest on every side when God gives you a promise trust and praise him like it's already happened and I'm telling you he will fulfill this promise does this not is this not the way you want to live aren't you sick and tired of being sick and tired aren't you tired of the devil worrying you to death putting thoughts in your minds constantly just on those little darts and just keeping you stirred up all the time you wake up early in the morning and you're trembling you got to go get a pill you wake up in the more in the night you're trembling you don't know what to do I'll tell you what you do you go to God you say God I got a problem I'm gonna pray about it I'm go fast about it and I want you to give me a promise dear God you give me a promise and I'm gonna start praying that promise back to you you made the promise you're the one that gave the promise I'm gonna pray the promise that you gave me back to you Lord I'm gonna pray your word to you I'm gonna claim that promise and Lord I believe you're gonna take fear away from me I believe you're gonna take this courage you min away from me I'm gonna walk toward the battle I'm not gonna walk from it I'm not gonna be afraid of the devil I'm not gonna be afraid of any man I'm not gonna be afraid of any situation I'm not gonna go around in fear I'm sick and tired of fear God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind I'm gonna walk in victory I'm gonna walk in the promises of God and I am gonna trust you I'm gonna praise you my problems are not punishment from You Lord that's just not the way it is you've given me Lord I'm gonna give my problem to you in prayer you're gonna give me a promise and I'm gonna keep that promise and trust and praise you until it comes about and when it does I'm gonna give you all the glory don't you think this is a better way to live than the way some of your living aren't you sick and tired as I said earlier about being sick and tired let's pray together right now you Christians out there some of you I'm telling you you're wearing yourself out you're wearing other people out can I talk to you can i I need some help I'm not trying to belittle anybody I'm not trying to be ugly but what you really need to do is go to God you need to get in the word you need to get a promise from God you need to lay out your problems for God tell him about it give your problems to the Lord in prayer quit feeling sorry for yourself just give it to the Lord in prayer and pray until he gives you a promise other where you say how I know it's a problem or all I know is you'll know it when you know it will burn in your soul and it will resonate and the witness you'll have the witness of the Holy Spirit and when God gives you a promise just trust him and praise him until it's accomplished just worship the Lord just go out before the army and just praise God his loving kindness is everlasting his faithfulness to all generations oh god I praise you this is how you live folks this is how you fight your battles right here father I pray in the name of Jesus that folks will quit worrying quit being discouraged stop it in the name of Jesus get on their face before you start fasting start praying start really seeking you with all their hearts and they will walk not in fear but in faith in your word and you will feel I know you Lord you will fulfill your promise god help us oh god help us

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

Views: 4,637

Rating: 4.9191918 out of 5

Keywords: turning your battlefields into blessings, god has a plan, pastor Steve gaines, Bellevue Baptist Church, bellevue memphis, bellevue church, bellevue sermons, Steve Gaines, Steve Gaines sermons, Steve gains, bellview, bellvue

Id: pBD7wD7QSkY

Length: 46min 1sec (2761 seconds)

Published: Tue May 19 2020