Take Your
Positions
Thursday,
May 14, 2020
12:56 PM
Reflection Wednesday
Pastor
has seemed to turn a corner in his dealings with the church. He expressed a
revelation that he has found formula which he briefly explains for the first
half of the service.
II Chronicles 20:1-25
1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with
some of the Meunites[a] came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.
2
Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from
Edom,[b] from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar”
(that is, En Gedi).
3
Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the
Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all
Judah.
4
The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came
from every town in Judah to seek him.
5
Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple
of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard
6
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 one
can withstand you.
7
Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people
Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
8
They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying,
9
‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine,
we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will
cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
10
“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.
11
See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you
gave us as an inheritance.
12
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.”
13
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood
there before the Lord.
14
Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of
Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of
Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
15
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.
16
Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz,
and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.
17
You will not have to fight this battle. Take up
your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give
you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to
face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”
18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground,
and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.
19
Then some Levites from the Kohathites and
Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud
voice.
20
Early 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 Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets
and you will be successful.”
21
After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and
to praise him for the splendor of his[c] holiness as they went out at the head
of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the
Lord, for his love endures forever.”
22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set
ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading
Judah, and they were defeated.
23
The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the
men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished
slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
24
When 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.
25
So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off
their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and
clothing[d] and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There
was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.
The pastor word on
the matter what that this is formula that God wants for his people. He spent
the majority of his conversation explaining that it means to take our position
and expounded upon how God is going to give us the victory as it pertains to our
gifting's and what roles they play.
Summary
- Take Your Position of Prayer
- Praise God
- Watch God turn the enemies on themselves
- Collect the plunder, retrieve what was ours.
The manifestation
that Pastor pointed out came out in the idea creating a hotline number that
would be attached to cell phone or phone line at the office and we would trade
this phone to be triage and first responder to those people whom they encounter
in the community. This was in response to his question about how we open what
God said to him about the gifting in ministry and this formula of Pray, Praise,
Stand and Watch and Collect.
----------
The wider context of
the scripture is interesting to me.
- The King bowed himself down to enquire of the Lord and called a fast. Pastor mentioned this…which would me he equates himself as the king or leader of the church. Which is fine as long as he follows the suit of the moment.
- The prophet arose as the king cried out…..Jahaziel rose and gave the strategy for victory. Which as far as my eyes can see means that this is the role of gifting coming forth as the spirit of the Lord should give utterance. The people complicit with kings action to enquire of the Lord led the people as whole before God.
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