Mark 11:22-23

Faith is not leaping blindly into the dark. It is stepping into the light and certainty of God’s Word.

We are commanded to “”Have the faith of God.”

Get yourself into the place where you are where God wants you to be.

1 Kings 17:8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there. . .

Faith is the substance of what God’s got in mind for you! That statement could read “Have the substance of God” or “Have the capacity of God”.

2 Corinthians 4:13

We are also commanded to say to the mountain. Do you want change? Then do something, say so. Act in faith, be obedient to what God requires of you.

That mountain is already gone before it arrived. What you want is already there. You have to catch up with God.

Mark 11:25:26

Forgiveness is vital to your faith. Unforgiveness stops God’s intervention in your life.

1 Timothy 4:1

Hebrews 11:6

In these last days there will be those who depart from the faith. A Christian who moves out of the realm of faith is like a fish out of water. Faith is the atmosphere in which Christians live. The realm of faith is pleasing to God.

“Giving heed to “means surrendering your will, giving agreement to. People are seduced out of their God given faith. It’s like the rape of your spirit.

1 Timothy 4:12

Be an example of a believer:

• In word … Speak the Word like Jesus spoke the Word.
• In conversation… In your social life, be seen and heard to be a Jesus person.
• In love … love like Jesus loved
• In spirit … live life with the passion of Jesus.
• In faith … demonstrate your Jesus faith.
• In purity … be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus!

Faith is confident of God’s promises.

Faith esteems God above all.

Faith is sure of God’s power and His willingness to act on your behalf!

Romans 1:17

Galatians 3:11

Hebrews 10:38

THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.

However, God’s blueprint is a custom-designed crown for each one of us, and as we study the events at Calvary we can see how the enemy’s assignment was nullified.

Jesus was whipped on His back, denoting your and my past. The cross of Calvary has completely dealt with the sins of the past and given you an open future.

John 20:25

The nails were pierced through his hands so that the work of your hands would be blessed.

John 19:31-33

Even though Pilate gave permission for their legs to be broken, the soldiers only broke those of the criminals on either side of Jesus, so that prophecy could be fulfilled. God would not allow it.

No matter what ‘permission’ is given for your destruction, your life is in God’s keeping and under His control. God only allows what He has ordained for your life!

John 19:34-37

When the soldier pierced the side of Jesus, blood and water flowed. Scientifically, that should not have happened, since dead men don’t bleed! The Holy Spirit miraculously demonstrated, though Jesus had died; yet the power of His Blood still flows to cancel sin for every living human being who will ever believe!

Genesis 2 :21-23

Jesus came into this world by water and by blood, and the Holy Spirit bears witness to this fact.

God created the first Adam. Then He put him into a deep sleep and took Eve from out of his (Adam’s) side. When Adam awoke, the Father presented him with a bride.

Jesus as the second Adam, Nailed to the cross, slipped into the sleep of death. The flow of blood and water from His side indicates the supernatural birthed of a bride. Now, the Father presents to the resurrected Jesus His Bride - the Church, you and I.

1 John 5:6-13

Throughout Scripture, whenever a blood sacrifice was made, water was closely associated with it.

In the temple in Jerusalem was a flushing conduit to flush away surplus animal sacrificial blood. This channel led to the outer wall, and the mixture of blood and water would flow down the outside of the wall. The crowd passing below could clearly see the flow of blood, and as the liquid gradually lost its colouring and eventually became a clear stream of running water they would know: The sacrifice is complete and our sins have been dealt with for another year!  So it is for us, but in a more unique manner!  The blood and water that flowed from the pierced side of Jesus is also a sign to us; The sacrifice is complete, the Blood of Christ has been shed once and for all. However, time is running out! NOW is the time of salvation. Don’t delay! “Flowing water speaks of spent time.”

To those believers who have already died, “They shall rise to live again” What! Profound assurance! To the living believers, “You shall never die” Yes! Thank you I will have that! This offer from Jesus caused multitudes to follow Him.

John 11:49

Caiaphas, the high priest during that time, supposing to divert a confrontation with Rome, the truth being, he was far more concerned about the falling away of so many Jews to follow Jesus! Caiaphus put forth a proposal readily accepted. “One man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” He inadvertently prophesied that Jesus should die for all the nations of the world, Jew and Gentiles alike!

Matthew 26:57-65

Jesus is subsequently arrested and during His inquisition, He so provoked Caiahpas that he rent his clothes! According to Leviticus 21:10, the high priest shall not rend his clothes! By Caiaphas renting his priestly garments effectively disqualified and relieved himself of his priestly office! Now lets consider the Garments of Jesus.

John 19:23

The four soldiers, who crucified Jesus, parted His clothing to each a part leaving an unresolved distribution of His seamless coat, “Let us not rend it.” In so deciding they fulfilled Psalm 22:18, to which David the psalmist prophesied Jesus’ clothes would be distributed by lot, indicating it would not be rent.

“The un-torn garments of Jesus prophesy to the identity of our Eternal High Priest Jesus Christ”!

Caiaphas selected Jesus as an escape goat but had unwittingly chosen the Lamb of God and after intense scrutiny, Caiahpas in anger tearing his own priestly garments relieved himself of his office. Now, in the absence of an officiating high priest Caiaphas opened the way for Jesus to officiate as the High Priest at the Offering of Himself to God as the LAMB of GOD!

Praise God! We no longer need nor require an earthly mediator to approach God, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2:3-6.

Kingdom Kings are Sanctified, Blood washed Business People.

A Kingdom King is not "the" King of the Kingdom, but "a" King in the Kingdom of "the" KING.

JESUS

WHO ARE THE KINGDOM KINGS?

Psalm 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

Romans 12:1 Present your bodies a living sacrifice!

Exodus 31:1-5. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying:

1. I have called thee by name Bezaleel. 2. I have filled you with the Spirit of God. 3. In wisdom. 4. In understanding. 5. In knowledge. 6. In all manner of workmanship. 7. To devise cunning works in gold, silver, and in brass, to cut and set stones, to carve timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

WHAT KIND OF HEARTS DO KINGDOM KINGS HAVE?

Exodus 35:20,21 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.

1. And they came,
2. Every one whose heart stirred him up,
3. Every one whom HIS SPIRIT made WILLING,
4. They brought the LORD’S offering to the WORK of the tabernacle of the congregation.

These gifts for the making of the tabernacle were to be voluntary. The people were not required to bring anything. There was no demand put upon them at all. This is not the tithe. This is a voluntary gift.

Exod. 36:2. even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work To Do It!

Notice this very important and essential fact in the work of the Lord. If you are serving the Lord grudgingly, do not do it. God cannot use this kind of attitude. It’s not a “job”. There’s no clock watching! They are committed with a passion. Not working because it is a duty. Not working because they must, but rather, because their hearts are in the work. We are to serve Him gladly.

Exod. 35:34. And he (God) hath put in his (Bezaleel’s) heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. God gave Bezaleel the
ability to pass on his gift to others! KINGDOM KINGS always enables others!

Matthew 4:23

When Jesus went into the synagogue, the first thing He did was teach the people. Considering that the synagogues had been in operation for thousands of years, we could wonder what was left to teach? However, Jesus had plenty that the people needed to know. There is no premium on ignorance.

1 Corinthians 22

Education does not automatically equal wisdom. An education surrendered to God can certainly be of benefit. Above all, study the
Word - it is your source of life. Then give God your best, understanding that education is simply the progressive discovery of your own ignorance.

Even in studying the Word we must be careful to understand: Salvation is not in the Book, it is in Him - the author of the Book.
See Jesus through the Word, and having seen Jesus, you will see the Father.

1 Corinthians 2:4 - 7

Our faith stands in the power and wisdom of God. Refuse to be intimidated by the wisdom of the world. Look around you - it’s not
working! We speak as though it is a mystery. God’s wisdom is not a mystery to us, only to those who don’t know Him. Before the foundation of the world, God ordained His wisdom to benefit us. We have His mind. Our whole life must revolve around His Word.

Matthew 4.

The Gospel we preach is the Gospel of the Kingdom. It stands to reason, then, that the key to that Gospel is the King, Jesus.
A predominant feature of Gospel of the Kingdom deals with the reversal
of loss. When man fell in the Garden of Eden he lost everything:

Relationship with God

1. The mind of God
2. The ability to be and live in holiness.
3. Health
4. Prosperity
5. The capacity to love and therefore relationship with each other.

However, God the Father sent Jesus His only begotten Son, the King of His Kingdom to deal with man’s sin problem, came and took our sin upon Himself, recovering all that was lost by Adam.

Luke 4:18

What then, is the anointing for? (vs 19) This verse wraps up the essence of Jesus’ mission. "The acceptable year of the Lord", the Year of Jubilee. It is the year of reversal of debt. Where the Gospel is preached, restoration is preached. We can live under the blessings of redemption instead of under the curse of the fall. The poor can regain their wealth, the broken-hearted regain the capacity to love and be loved. The sickly restored to health, and the blind regain their vision.

Luke 15.

The three parables in this chapter were all told to illustrate what the Kingdom of Heaven is like, and all three deal with the reversal of
loss.

The first story deals with one lost sheep. The Scribes and Pharisees, in their self-righteousness are unable to discern the
purpose of Jesus entertaining sinners! However, Jesus points out to them the Father is searching for and restoring what’s lost. The
Shepherd’s crook is not only to retrieve lost sheep but, to break the leg of delinquent sheep prone to wondering away and get lost - that’s why the shepherd is seen carrying the sheep on his shoulders!

The second story is about a woman who has lost a coin. This coin may have been part of the traditional dowry - a headdress of coins worn by a bride on her wedding day. That would of course make it of extreme value to her. On the other hand, it may just have been a drachma, equal in value to one day’s wages. The lost are like that coin. Even a Ten-cent piece lost on a sidewalk needs to be picked up and put back into the monetary system it was designed for. Whatever you have lost has value.

The third story is about lost relationship being restored. This is the one we should place our emphasis on - we so often stress our lives over lost possessions and blithely walk away from lost relationships. God is in the business of recovering and restoring lost relationships! We ought to do likewise!

Lift the quality of your life. God does not deal in worthlessness. Ours is a Gospel of joy - I have recovered what I lost!

Luke 7:19

John the Baptist is in prison - incarcerated for his stand for righteousness. Perhaps in a moment of doubt, he sends a message to
Jesus: " Are You He who is to come, or should we look for another?" Jesus’ answer is to heal the sick and cast out demons, and then tell the messengers "Go and tell John what you have seen". The evidence that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand is the restoration of what was lost.

Genesis 22:1. Abraham is our spiritual father - the father of the faith. When God tempted him, it was not a temptation to evil. He was "tempted" to go on an adventure of faith with God. Our response ought to be: "Let’s go, Lord!". (Understanding, of course, that the jungle gym in your backyard does not constitute an adventure!) If you set off on a journey with God you are going to find yourself in some unknown places, far from your comfort zones.

You cannot see with your eyes what is the substance of faith. When man fell, he fell out of eternity and into time; out of vision and into sight. That is why the just have to live by faith and not by sight. It is imperative that we are not moved by circumstance - those things that are obvious to the senses. If you are time and sight conscious, you are bound to sink into depression.

There is hearing and there is hearing. A heart that is tuned to God will be able to hear His voice and do all that He says.

The ‘is not’ will bring to naught what ‘is’. That takes vision. It takes a commitment to the Word of God and a refusal to be moved by circumstance. That is Kingdom living. Just as Abraham was chosen by Jehovah and called to a new and unfamiliar country, we have been chosen by God to follow Jesus into a new Kingdom.

(vs 4) When God called Abraham to the region of Moriah, it was a three-day journey. Abraham could see

with the eyes of faith the land he was going to. God wants us to live in timelessness with Him, where we can see the beginning from the end as He does.

(vs 5) Isaac was a young man of 21 yrs of age. He was fully aware of what was going on, but he went without argument. He was a child of faith, trusting in the faithfulness of God. Abraham says to his servants-"Wait here - we will return." He was fully confident that this son, the fulfillment of God’s promise, would still be with him when he returned. Now that’s an adventure of faith!

Luke 8: 40

This chapter contains two stories, which on first glance seem to be separate incidences, but on closer study are completely interlocked - Jesus was painting a picture here, to reveal to us some Kingdom secrets.

(vs 41) Jairus falls at Jesus’ feet, begging him to come and heal his gravely ill daughter. (vs 43) On the way to the home of Jairus, the journey is interrupted when a woman pushes her way through the crowd and grabs hold of the hem of Jesus’ garment. Jesus feels virtue flow from him as she is instantly healed of a chronic condition. He then addresses the woman.

Remember that Jairus is standing next to Jesus at this point, watching all that is taking place. Jesus is busy preparing him for what
was to come.

(vs 50) By the time they arrive at Jairus’ house they are greeted with bad news - the child has died. Jesus immediately turns to Jairus and says, "Don’t be afraid. Just believe. (vs 51) Jesus removes everyone from the room except Peter, John, James, and the girl’s parents. The crowd is waiting outside. He raises the girl from the dead, and then commands everyone in the room, “Tell no one of this."

What were they not to tell? That the girl had been raised? That would be a ludicrous request, since she was about to walk out the door in full view of the waiting crowd. There was no way that that miracle could be kept secret, so Jesus must have been talking about something else that took place in the room. Something that was not to be revealed until the right time. There was a hidden truth in these stories.

If we look carefully at the words Jesus used in that room we find the key. He takes the child by the hand and says, "Talitha Kumi" Translated from the Greek, that simply means "Little girl, arise". To those that hear, that’s what happened. But to those that hear, there is a play on words hidden in the Scripture, giving us the clue to Kingdom truth. In the beginning of these events, when that woman crawled and elbowed her way through the jostling crowd to grab the hem
of Jesus’ garment, it was the same seamless garment they would be gambling for at Calvary. As was the Jewish custom, on the hem of his garment there would be a tassel, or in the Hebrew language, a ‘talith’. This talith was there as a symbol of the Law - of the Word of God. It was there as a constant and present reminder to the wearer of the garment that the Law of the covenant was always to take first place in his life.The woman with the issue of blood laid hold of that talith on the hem of Jesus’ garment. HER HEALING FLOWED WHEN SHE LAID HOLD OF GOD’S WORD.

Now, standing in this room, Jesus addresses the young girl, using the words, "Talitha Kumi". By custom, she would have been wrapped in a prayer shawl, which also would have the talith attached. When Jesus declared what He did, He was in effect saying, " Word, come forth!" He was calling forth the power of the covenant. God’s Word is His covenant with us. The Word made flesh, Jesus, will recover you!

Touch the Word. Lay hold of the promises. Touch God! Kingdom is primarily about the restoration of your relationship with God. Adam and Eve knew God intimately. They had knowledge of His heart. They walked in that relationship and all things were theirs. Since God and His Word are inseparable, and Jesus is the Word made flesh, we need to immerse our lives in His Word. Get rid of all the other tassels in your life!

1 Corinthians 2:10,11

Speak the mind of God. We are not of the spirit of this world, we are of the Spirit of God. God permits us to instruct Him by speaking His Word to Him. How can you if you have no idea of what His Word says? God has revealed Himself to us through His Word.

To live in His Kingdom you have to live by his Word. The most crucial issue of all that man lost in Eden is the loss of his knowledge
of God.

Seek that lost knowledge. Direct your energy towards knowing the heart and mind of God as they are revealed in His Word. Lay hold of Covenant. Lay hold of the promise. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and Kingdom living will be yours.

(9) We need to also ask ourselves ‘why?’

(10) Our behavior can determine Heaven’s response. Even if we have been blessed and favoured in the past, we have no conception of the measure God wants to bless us in if we will get our priorities straight. When Abraham obeyed God and took Isaac up the mountain, the ram was there. That ram didn’t climb a mountain because of habit - God provided so that Abraham was able to meet his commitment.

Acts 4/5 Barnabus had a reputation which he earned through sacrifice. Ananias and Saphira wanted the reputation without making the sacrifice.

Matthew 6:21 - Your heart will always follow your treasure. God blesses the birds of the air who don’t work. How much more will He
bless the work of our hands?

God worked and Adam worked before the curse entered the world. Work is not a curse. Working by the sweat of your brow and producing hardly anything is!

The Father knows we need good things. The world has to seek after them. We are commanded to seek first the Kingdom of God. It’s about priority. God first blesses us so that we can build the Kingdom.

1 Chronicles 29:6 - 12. The riches that the people brought came from God (Vs 12) in the first place. Have the humility of heart to recognize that all we have is from God’s hand and do what is right. The strength and power to get wealth comes from God. Give back to Him freely and gladly and He will honour you.

What the sons of God will build for God in His honour must be magnificent. Our insufficiency cannot and will not hinder the vision as
long we set our hearts in the right place. God can and will provide whatever is necessary.

David longed to see the Ark of the Covenant housed. We understand that the church is not a building - we, the people of God are the church. The church is the nurturing, caring heart of God. Nevertheless, we need some place from which we can operate.

1 Chronicles 29:1

It is imperative that we understand that we are chosen by GOD to do this. Where He chooses He also provides. The work is great, but not for God.

(Vs 18) Only God can turn our hearts and direct our thoughts if we allow Him to.

Spirit-filled planning and preparation must have the following characteristics:

• The Holy Sprit always brings glory to Jesus. Any plan birthed by Him will do the same. Our planning must focus on and glorify God’s character.
• The plan must have vision, detail and depth. God is in the means and
  the end. The end does not justify the means if God has not been in control every step of the way. Our task is to carry out HIS purpose and to achieve HIS glory.
• A plan that is filled with the Holy Spirit will always prepare the way for others to succeed. The world’s measure of success is always based on selfish achievement. The Holy Spirit measures our success by how many others have also been given the opportunity to succeed with us.

Acts 4: 31; Acts 5: 1-5.

The early church "had all things common". They operated under a system of private ownership / corporate use. That is not to promote a socialistic viewpoint without any room for personal advancement. It simply meant that nobody clutched selfishly to their own possessions regardless of a brother’s need. The reciprocal, of course, is an attitude of respect. If you are given the use of another’s property, be sure to return it in as good as, if not better, condition.

(Vs 34)

These people owned lands. They were giving from their overflow.

(Vs 36) Josus was renamed ‘Barnabus’, which means ‘Son of consolation’. He was a generous person who gave financially. He also
sold the one field that he owned and brought that money. Heaven recognizes sacrificial giving and so did the Apostles. He became known as a generous person who gave financially. It is only wrong to make known your giving when by doing so you humiliate the person you helped. The key issue is your motive in giving.

(Ch 5:1-5) Ananias and Saphira were under no duress to give. Peter also makes it clear that they were free to give whatever portion of the finances that they wanted to. The issue is that they lied about it, claiming that it was the full amount.

(Vs 3) Satan had filled their hearts with improper motive. They were envious of Barnabus’ reputation and hoping to be acknowledged in the same way.

Whose purpose, plan and vision is in your heart? Be moved by the Holy Spirit and do exactly as God tells you to.

There are predictable hindrances which can prevent us from accomplishing if we allow them to, and for every one of them God has
the answer:

• Lack of strength, inability. God promises to give strength. Lean on Him!
• Lack of courage, failure to stay the course. God will never leave you. Don’t quit!
• Lack of faith. Make the decision to access God’s faith, power and presence.
• Lack of follow-through, inability to translate good intention into reality JUST DO IT!

The vision is huge, and the end result must be magnificent - but do not lose heart. The God who has chosen you for this task deliberately made it bigger than you so that He could do it through you to His glory. Only be available.

Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, aligns himself with 32 other kings and goes to war against Israel. The odds stacked against the people of God are awesome: we know that by the end of the second battle 127,000 of Ben-Hadad’s men had been slain, which means that he had at least that many to begin with. Israel’s king Ahab manages to muster 7,000 men in the army of Israel, plus 232 servants of the princes.

Ben-Hadad in this instance is a type of the devil as he wages war against the church of Jesus Christ. We may seem to be overwhelmed by the force of the attack against us at times, but God wants to bring victory to His people. God can do far more with the 10% that is His, than the 90% in the hand of the devil!

"Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world!"

(vs 2) Ben-Hadad sends a message to Ahab, king of Israel. He announces arrogantly that he is taking the silver, the gold, the wives and the children.

(vs 3) Ahab immediately capitulates, hoping to placate his enemy. You cannot bargain with the devil! His ultimate aim is to destroy you completely and he will not let up because you lie down and play dead!

(vs 6) Ben-Hadad responds to this surrender, saying, "Even everything you desire is mine".  The devil wants to steal the desires of your heart away from you. God has placed those desires in your heart, and the devil knows that God will grant them to you. He wants to snatch the desire away from you before lay hold of it. 

The devil is very busy taking wives and children away - he is destroying families through divorce and calamity. He is stealing wealth out of the hands of the righteous. It is time that the church stood up and said: "ENOUGH!" When Ahab tells the people of his decision, they are the ones who say, "devil, NO! hell, NO!"

(vs 13) The prophet comes to Ahab and says, "Do you see this vast army before you? God will deliver it into your hand today". We have to see God, not the problem. We must remember - when the problem is bigger than us, so is God. God gets involved in the fight because our enemies are His enemies.

(vs 14) Ahab wants to know: "By whom?" and the prophet replies, "By the young men" - the attendants and servants of the princes.

God is whipping the devil’s butt and He’s doing it from the bottom up! God is mobilising the servants in the house - the congregation - and sending them into the battle. He can do it through the least of us and He will get the glory at the end of it all. No matter how big the enemy in your life - God will whip him through you !

(vs 18) Ben-Hadad arrogantly assumes victory and orders that they be taken alive. The devil understands the value of propaganda. He knows he can instil doubt and fear into the hearts of the strong through the mouths of live captives.

(vs 19) The Syrian army flees, as each Israelite kills his man. Every one of us has the power of overcoming victory! Your enemy is earmarked by God for you to slaughter. There are no armchair spectators in this battle.

(vs 22) The prophet returns to warn Ahab that Syria will return. The devil always returns. When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he eventually had to withdraw in defeat, but Scripture tells us it was only until a more opportune moment. We have to live Ephesians 6:11 every day of our lives. We cannot afford to be without the armour of God as we wrestle - not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, and forces of spiritual wickedness.

Live in a state of preparedness.

(vs 23) Syria is now trying to analyse Israel’s battle strategy. They obviously cannot believe that they have been defeated. The servants say to Ben-Hadad: "Their gods are the gods of the hills, therefore they are stronger than us. We must fight them in the valley".

Even the devil admits that you are stronger! If you won’t hear it from anyone else, will you hear it from him?

He is saying, "Don’t take them when they are on the mountaintop! We have no chance. Take them in the valley. That’s where they become pathetic. They are sulky, self-pitying, pre-occupied with themselves, angry at their God - that’s when they are weak enough to destroy."

But note- there is an element of doubt … "Surely then we will defeat them." When you are at your absolute weakest, the devil still is unsure. He has studied you - he knows all your frailties and failings and he knows exactly how to exploit them. But he cannot fathom the mystery in your life no matter how long he eyes you - because he cannot study and analyse God! The deep well of the presence of God in your life remains a mystery to him, and he never knows just when you will pull a miracle right out of the bottom of that barrel you are sitting in!

(vs 24) The Syrians are putting forth what they consider to be Israel’s secret to success - if you want to know your strengths, listen to what your enemy is saying about you. They advise the king: " Get rid of the kings, and put captains in their places."

The devil knows we will defeat him again in this last battle because God is removing the kings and putting the power into the hands of the captains. The five-fold ministry s no longer going to do all the work - the congregation is being mobilised!

A king becomes a king by virtue of birth - it is pre-destined. A captain is someone who has risen to a place of authority through the ranks. By virtue of life experience and training a captain has matured and is qualified for the task.

The enemy also understands - these people are not looking to the kings for their success. Stop looking to the kings - look to THE KING. The banks and other lending institutions are out there, promising you the world on a plate, until you enquire and the small print is thrown at you! ONLY the King of Kings can make good His promise to bless you, deliver you and bring you through regardless of your past mistakes and failings. Look to Him and Him alone!

(vs 25) They also notice another strange thing about this army - they don’t strengthen their army after each battle - they simply replace, man for man, what was lost previously.Our strength remains consistent - whether by few or by many, the battle is the Lord’s and the victory is ours.What God will do is restore everything you have lost in previous battles - it is all coming back to you! 

(vs 29,30) The armies of Israel trounce the Syrians in the valley, just as they did on the mountaintops. 100,000 foot soldiers are slaughtered in one day. 27,000 others who flee into the city of Aphek are crushed when a wall falls in on them.

When you are in the valley, God shows up! And just in case the Israelites were tempted to feel they had done this great deed by their own strength, God causes a wall to fall on 27,000 others who ran away. Our God is a Man of War!

Psalm 84; 4 - 9.

(vs 6) The valley is no problem to God. You can pass through the Valley of Baca (Weeping) - God will cause rain from Heaven to fill the pools with blessings - and you will pass through.

(vs 7) Each one of us will have victory.

(vs 9) It is the anointing that breaks the yoke.

Psalm 23: 4-6.

Whether you are in the valley or on the mountaintop - the anointing is on you. The mercy of God is your portion.

VICTORY IN THE VALLEY IS FOR THOSE WHO DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD!

(vs 49) Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Mary was not one of the apostles, with great spiritual revelation - but she was His mother. She had insight and understanding into the potential in Jesus.

Believe in the potential in your children! Anticipate for your children the day when they will speak a thing and everyone will see the miraculous.

Proverbs 31: 1-2. These are the words of Lemuel’s mother. She declares, “What, son of my womb?” Mothers and fathers need to stand in the gap and declare the will of God over their children.

If you want the miracle, you have to do whatever God tells you to do, even though you don’t understand. God is making His story. He does not provide formulae for everybody to simply follow - He has a unique plan for you and for your situation.

(vs 54) Only believe what has been said.

God might want you to be the messenger in someone else’s life, but until you believe the messenger in your life that will not be possible..

You cannot explain spiritual things.

You cannot argue the Gospel - you just preach it.

This man travelled a long way to meet with Jesus - there are things that you can do. Do them!

When you can’t do any more, and it seems as though your situation is dead, then hear the voice of Jesus saying to you:

“Fear not - only believe.”

When the situation is dead, you are in a prime position to move into the realm of the miraculous.

If you are in a situation, as Jairus was, where your family don’t believe, then you go to Him. He will bless the whole family despite them and because of you.

If you have a Word on the situation, then walk through the night - even when it becomes so dark that you can see no further, hold on to that Word and keep walking.

(vs 51) The servants rush to tell him that his son lives. Even after your miracle has come, you may find satan trying to undermine the miracle by make it look coincidental, or giving it a natural explanation. Perhaps the instruction to these servants was, “Stop Dad from wasting his time, the boy has recovered anyway!”

(vs 52) Absolute proof that help came from above. Call out on God - help always comes from above.

John 20:24 - 28.

Thomas was not with the other believers when Jesus appeared for the first time. You cannot believe if you are not in the house of God. Those who were there, caught a revelation of His resurrection power. Before we can do the same, we have to be found under the preaching of the Word.

(vs 25) Thomas declares “I will not believe”. It is an act of our own will to believe God. We make the choice of doubt and unbeleif.

(vs 26) Nothing can stop Jesus when you are expecting a visitation. He will be there.

(vs 27) Thomas must have thought, “Who told on me?!”

Jesus wants us to believe when we can’t see the way out. How many nights have you walked? How many voices are surrounding you, telling you to give up? Perservere!

After submitting himself to God and declaring of Jesus “My Lord and my God!”, Thomas went on to evangelize India!

Do what He tells you to do, and believe what He has said. Perservere until your miracle comes.

God will not fail you!