YOUR BREAKTHROUGH IS AT HAND

by Bud Gressett

 

The Philistines Defeated

I Chron 14:8-12 NKJV   Now when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went out against them. Then the Philistines went and made a raid on the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of God, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?"

The LORD said to him, "Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand."

So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. Then David said, "God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water." Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim. 12And when they left their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire.

      Here the Word of God describes how God intends to breakthrough on your enemies on your behalf. When God intends on delivering your enemies into your hands, He is going to breakthrough upon them like the breaking forth of waters. Now this wasn’t a breakthrough of a water faucet. It was a flood. That means it’s going to be such a flood that the enemy can’t control it, contain it, or stop it. The breakthrough is going to literally wipe your enemies off the map.

      A while back, we had a malfunction in our upstairs bathroom. The toilet began to overflow without our knowing it. We were downstairs watching the TV when the light fixtures began to leak and pour water. Oops! We had a water problem. It was an easy fix. We turned the water off to the toilet. Got the towels and mops out for upstairs. Turned the power off downstairs and opened the fixtures for a few hours to let them drain and dry. That was the breaking forth of water.

      But when you have a flood, you can only watch the destruction. You can mop and drain all day but it keeps coming. That is what God is going to be to oppression, fear, and terror in your life from now on and I can prove it. But before I do, I want you to understand the principle of I Chronicles 14.

      David had an enemy problem. In order to get the enemy out of his life he had to do something. When he did what he had to do, God broke through like a flood upon them. That enemy had to run because they could not control what God was doing, they could not contain what God was doing, and they could not stop what God was doing. It was retreat or get wiped off the map. And when God did that, David was so happy that he named the place where it happened after God as "Baal-Perezim", that is, "Lord of the Breakthrough".  So what did David do?

First: Plug the holes

      David established an offence against his enemies. He didn’t ask God what to do until he put his armies against his enemy so they could come no further. Sometimes we get so panicked or excited about reacting or even being proactive against our problems that we forget to plug the holes. If oppression, fear, and terror have come against your finances, have you started using debt tactics to stop them? If you have, that’s a hole you need to plug. Have they come against your marriage and you are using retaliation, intimidation, or cowering down as a tactic of repair? Well that’s a hole, too. Are you sick? Then plug that caffeine, nicotine, and carbohydrate hole, called your mouth, before you do anything else.

Next: Fight or Run?

      David asked God two questions. He didn’t ask God what to do. Duh! He knew what to do and that was fight or run. His first question was "Do I fight?" and the second question was "Do I win?" After you get all the holes plugged you need to first ask your God what the strategy is. Do you think that David would have gone to the trouble of putting his armies out against his enemies had he thought God would have said, "Run"? Well, of course not. David knew that God was about to arise on his behalf. What David was asking was, "What’s Next? Charge? Sneak Attack? What?"

      David also knew from the history of Israel that God could have a battle plan that would mean losing the first time in order to gain a greater win the next time. So he asked "Do I win?" Now, if God had said, "No, not this time," David would have fought anyway because God said to fight. But then if he lost the first time, it would not have discouraged him because he would know that God had a much bigger plan in mind for his triumph. Sometimes, we forget to ask about the battle plan and when it looks like we’ve lost, we cry and despair and worry. If we had only known in the first place that things got harder so that the enemies would be wiped out instead of just defeated, we would have rejoiced over what seems to have been lost.

      God wants your enemies wiped off the map this time. So get ready because whether you win or lose the first battle, your enemies will not be able to control, contain or stop the breakthrough that God is going to flood over them.

      So God didn’t tell David he would lose. He said the enemy would be delivered into his hand. That meant that God was going to disarm the enemy and leave it to David concerning what to do with them. Sometimes we say, "Oh, if I could just get some relief, then I’d be happy". We really should be saying, "Give me the victory Lord and I’ll wipe our enemies off the map." When fear has been defeated in your life, did you finish the job by making sure you’d never be afraid in that area of your life again? Or did you just sit down and say "Whew, I hope that never happens again"?

Next: Stick with God's way

      David did exactly what the plan called for. There were no improvisations because he knew that God’s plans needed no improvement. He had the Word and acted on it with the confidence that God was going to deliver his enemies over to his personal discretion. When you have God’s Word on something, do you act it out as planned? God says, "Don’t be indebted to anyone." Do you say, "It’s just to leverage me out of the financial woes that I have." Don’t go there.

      Other excuses are… "He started it.", "It’s only social.", "I have no choice.", "It was only in self-defense.", "I can’t quit.", and "This is a good thing and God will forgive me and I’ll repent later."

      Later in this chapter, you’ll find that David had to face the enemies again in the same valley. Why? Because they were initially in his hands to do with what he pleased and he chose not to destroy them the first time. If David had only learned from that mistake, there would be no Palestinian (Philistine) unrest in Israel today.

Finally: Memorialize the victory

      David made a memorial of the ground he had won. When you name a valley after God it must mean the valley belongs to God, right? So here we are again plugging holes. When God has given you the opportunity to wipe out your enemies and you do it; then give whatever they used as a stronghold against you over to God and don’t go there again except to worship God in remembrance of what He’s done. Take communion over your victories in remembrance of Him.

(Bud Gressett is the Director of Terra Firma Ministries, a missions organization. For more info: Terra Firma Ministries  Box 38  Spring, TX 77383-0038  *  Info@TerraFirmaMinistries.org  *  Part 2 of this article will appear in the next issue)

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