June 13 - 1 Kings 22:10-28 | 2 Chronicles 18:9-27 | 1 Kings 22:29-35 | 2 Chronicles 18:28-34 | 1 Kings 22:36-40 | 1 Kings 22:51-53 | 2 Chronicles 19:1-20:30

Good morning everyone,

Great reading again! Yes?! Yet another awesome story today in 2 Chronicles 20, probably one of my favorite in, well, at least the old testament. We’ll get to that, but first we have, dressed in their royal robes and sitting on their thrones kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat. You see, Ahab has talked  Jehoshaphat into going into battle with him but Jehoshaphat wants to ask the prophets if this is what God would have them do. Being accommodating, Ahab summons his “prophets” led by the biggest drama mamma ever, Zedekiah, who has some iron horns he has made saying, “ with these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.” All the prophets agreeing, advising exactly what Ahab wanted to hear, except .… except Micaiah who would stay true to what the Lord really was saying. Ahab knew this too and groaned audibly when he saw him knowing he would disagree with the rest of the prophets. True to his reputation, Micaiah reported that they would suffer a terrible loss. it was when he got a little, oh shall we say, taunting, that he ended up in prison with only bread and water to be served to him until Ahab came back alive. Sadly for him, Ahab would not return.

Up on the battle field, Ahab knowing that the king of Aram was only interested in killing king him, he tells  Jehoshaphat to wear the royal robes while  he himself wear a common soldiers uniform. By the grace and guidance of God, the Arameans recognized Jehoshaphat to not be Ahab and did not pursue him. However is would be a stray arrow that landed between the folds of the armor that would, in fact, kill Ahab while Jehoshaphat returned home to his palace safely.

When he gets there, Jehu the seer, calls him out on his joining forces with evil. Jehoshaphat sees where he had gone wrong, repents, recommits to God and gets his kingdom back in order. Like Jehoshaphat , it is so easy for us to back back slide when we start looking at and playing with the world. The enemy delights in our interest in him. Seriously! He has his little demons working overtime to find new ways to woo us away from God the Father for  any length of time. Beware!

Now, (and this is great stuff) the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites came to wage war against Judah and Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat immediately went to inquire of the Lord, he publicly prayed to God the Father, confessing they did not have the power to fight against the armies nor did they know what to do, that they were looking to Him for help. Oh my word! I love, love, love that! When we are at a total loss, is when God can and will do his best work with and through us. Our God is so huge, but it gets so much better. 

The  Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, a Levite and said, “Do not be afraid. This is not your battle, but God’s.” The next morning Jehoshaphat gives them a pep talk, telling them “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” and they all head out singing songs of praise. That’s right, before anything had been done they were praising God for it. You taking notes? As they began singing the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and they all started killing off each other. By the time Jehoshaphat and his troops got there, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. Not only that but it took them three days to collect all of the plunder.

We have the exact same ability to call on the Lord as Jehoshaphat did. God totally delights in fighting our battles for us, blessing us is what He likes to do best. What, you enquire? How do we let God fight our battles? Glad you asked. First you need to, I need to, know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the battle does belong to God. Next we need to recognize our limitations and allow God’s strength to work through our fears and weaknesses. Then sit back, exercise your trust and faith, sing some praises and “let go, to let God.” There is so much freedom in knowing someone else has it handled. When you drop your clothes off at the cleaners (does anyone still do that?) do you sit and worry about if they are getting done right? Doubting their ability, are you tempted to run down and press the clothes out for them? Of course not. Nor should you reclaim anything you have turned over to God to handle. He’s got it!

Matthew 11:28-30 says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jamie Owens-Collins writes in his song, “When your enemy presses in hard do not fear. The battle belongs to the Lord. Take courage my friend, your redemption is near. The battle belongs to the Lord. We sing glory and honor. Power and strength to the Lord. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all ….