Christian Life Church
December 8, 2024 at 8:30am & 10:00am
The enemy of Believers will relentlessly manipulate circumstances to keep us off balance and cause us to entertain doubts about God’s ability or willingness to rescue His People. His mission is to “conditionalize” our faith.
Locations & Times
Christian Life Church Columbia
2700 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
Through Dark Valleys 12.8.24
1 Kings 20:23-28 NIV “Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. 24 Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. 25 You must also raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they.” He agreed with them and acted accordingly. 26 The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside. 28 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Central Truth: The enemy of Believers will relentlessly manipulate circumstances to keep us off balance and cause us to entertain doubts about God’s ability or willingness to rescue His People. His mission is to “conditionalize” our faith.
Getting started:
1. Is God guilty? Is He the problem?
Isaiah 59:1-2 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
2. Is God unwilling? Am I unloved by Him?
This is done with the intention of making us “double minded” (literally “two souled”).
James 1:8 Such a man is unstable in all they do.
3. Is God unable?
Psalm 78:19-21 They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? 20 True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?” 21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel.
4. Satan’s scheme
Take away the protection - and he will curse you. (Job)
Take away provision - and he will minimize you. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Take away problems - and he will forget you. (Proverbs 30:7-9)
5. Satan must gain permission from God to sift you. (Luke 22:31; Job 1-2)
Christian Life Lessons
1. Satan wants us to marginalize our faith. He tells us to “believe, but not too much; be spiritual, but don’t get unbalanced.”
2. Deal with doubts quickly and do not let them harden into disbelief.
3. REMEMBER! Remember - for we overcome our enemy by the blood of The Lamb, by our steadfast love, and BY THE WORD OF OUR TESTIMONY. We remember Who God is, What God has promised, and What He has done!
In the days of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19)
In the days of the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 4:23-31)
4. Even when we cannot see them, God has mercifully placed parameters and protections around us. (Job 1:12 AND Job 2:6)
Remember God is both ‘in charge’ and ‘in control.’ He says to Satan: ‘This far, and no farther.’
5. Understand that Our Father is God of “all terrain” - of the hills and the valleys.
1 Kings 20:23-28 NIV “Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. 24 Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. 25 You must also raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they.” He agreed with them and acted accordingly. 26 The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside. 28 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Central Truth: The enemy of Believers will relentlessly manipulate circumstances to keep us off balance and cause us to entertain doubts about God’s ability or willingness to rescue His People. His mission is to “conditionalize” our faith.
Getting started:
1. Is God guilty? Is He the problem?
Isaiah 59:1-2 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
2. Is God unwilling? Am I unloved by Him?
This is done with the intention of making us “double minded” (literally “two souled”).
James 1:8 Such a man is unstable in all they do.
3. Is God unable?
Psalm 78:19-21 They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? 20 True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?” 21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel.
4. Satan’s scheme
Take away the protection - and he will curse you. (Job)
Take away provision - and he will minimize you. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Take away problems - and he will forget you. (Proverbs 30:7-9)
5. Satan must gain permission from God to sift you. (Luke 22:31; Job 1-2)
Christian Life Lessons
1. Satan wants us to marginalize our faith. He tells us to “believe, but not too much; be spiritual, but don’t get unbalanced.”
2. Deal with doubts quickly and do not let them harden into disbelief.
3. REMEMBER! Remember - for we overcome our enemy by the blood of The Lamb, by our steadfast love, and BY THE WORD OF OUR TESTIMONY. We remember Who God is, What God has promised, and What He has done!
In the days of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19)
In the days of the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 4:23-31)
4. Even when we cannot see them, God has mercifully placed parameters and protections around us. (Job 1:12 AND Job 2:6)
Remember God is both ‘in charge’ and ‘in control.’ He says to Satan: ‘This far, and no farther.’
5. Understand that Our Father is God of “all terrain” - of the hills and the valleys.