Genesis Broadcasting Network TV Ministry

God’s Champions

Can you see all the good God is bringing forth? It is magnificent to watch a newborn come forth despite the pain of childbirth. Have you ever seen the beauty of freshly fallen snow as it glistens and hangs on the trees amidst the sunrise of a winter’s morning? Yes, there is the shivering, bitter cold, and the sting of ice crystals against your skin. Yet all this gives way to the birth of something great and glorious; something of awe, beauty, and wonderment.

Yes, the times we face can be difficult. But we are getting ready to behold and grasp the surpassing beauty of God’s holiness, love, and power such as never before. We must learn to keep our hearts and souls above in God’s glory realm praising and glorifying Him and testifying of who He is, His promises, what He has done, and will do. In this posture of standing above – there is great advantage and power from God to withstand and overcome.

It is when we dwell down below in the carnal reasoning of the mind where we rehearse our troubles over and over, that we can begin to shrink under oppressive weights. We must magnify God and praise Him. We must enter into that secure fortress that exists in that glorious realm of intimacy with our Lord and Savior. We must learn to testify more and more of the surpassing victory we have in Him and through the blood of Jesus Christ. Yes, victory is ours!

In intimacy with God we find the beauty of His holiness, His presence, His power, and His still, small voice to guide us. King David was a man with an intimate relationship with God, despite the persecutions that assailed Him.

The persecutions of this age are increasing in frequency and intensity as the homosexual agenda, for instance, seeks to punish those who by good conscience refuse to give services of approval to gay marriage, and abortionists are promoting horrific, evil practices.

We must learn to arise and stand as champions like David did in the era of King Saul. Is God bigger? Are His promises sure? Yes and Amen!

In Hebrew, champion is translated to mean “man in the middle”. It means the person who stands as David did against Goliath representing a nation or a people. How many are willing to stand as champions, as intercessors for their churches, their families, and our nation? How many are willing to stand for what is right, no matter the cost? How many are willing to inquire of the Lord and take action under His guidance?

Saul represents the prevailing government of compromise such as we find in America — entangled in pride, jealousy, insecurity, pursuit of fame, and threatening oppressive control. King Saul compromised when it came to killing all the Amalekites who represent today a people who do not fear God and who pursue immoral lifestyles.

King Saul feared the people – permitting the people to gather livestock that was to be slaughtered for sacrifice (see 1 Samuel 15:24). Saul did not wait for the priest Samuel and conducted a sacrifice before Samuel’s arrival and thus compromised God’s commands (see 1 Sam. 13:8-13).

Saul was jealous of David and sought to kill him, even after Saul fell vulnerable to David. On one occasion, David chose only to cut off part of Saul’s robe to demonstrate to Saul that he could have killed him — but rather chose restraint, mercy, and respect for God’s anointed.

David represents the kingdom God desires to prevail, a kingdom where the love of God, His presence and His word, have priority. And where compromise and disregard of that which is holy is exposed and put in its proper order. David represents the heart of a champion, a man willing to stand in the gap. He was a man willing to inquire of the Lord and take action as directed by God.

Today we find the Saul’s of this age – whether in the government or in the church – persecuting God’s Kingdom people who hold forth God’s banner of holiness and kingdom principles. No matter how many times Saul pursued David to destroy him, God gave David the strategic advantage because God was with David and had given him a secure future.

I say to you God’s beloved saints who love holiness and seek diligently after God’s Kingdom in the earth, do you know that God has a future and hope for you? Can you visualize it, taste it, and embrace the promise of it? It is oh so near. Don’t despair. Don’t let go of your confidence in God and His enduring promises. (see Hebrews 10:35)

This compromising King Saul faced his own demise at the hand of the Philistines in the land of Jezreel where he was wounded in battle and then proceeded to kill himself. He abandoned God’s will and called his compromise obedience. How many are doing just the same? They call darkness light and light darkness.

Jezreel means God sowed or scattered. Bible scholars have noted it as a play on words meaning scattering. It is that scattering that comes after being broken. It is that death to the old and birth of something new. After the death of King Saul it wasn’t long before a kingdom after God’s heart emerged under the reign of King David. Jezreel was also the place where queen Jezebel, who worshipped Baal, promoted greed, and sought to kill and silence the prophets was thrown out of her window and killed after being confronted by another champion, Jehu.

There is a type of Jezreel battlefield where the Jezebel’s and Saul’s in our government, in our churches, and in our lives are being confronted. Pride, arrogance, compromise, jealousy, lust, and the squelching of prophecy amidst the emergence of God’s kingdom are specific enemies being faced.

Let’s make sure we humble our hearts before God and let God purge us and use us as champion vessels for His glory. The emergence of the glorious power of the Holy Spirit is about to burst forth like never before.

King David represents a “Kingdom of God” champion. He withstood the attacks of King Saul. He sought to destroy and subdue evil represented by the Philistines and actively sought to bring the Ark – representing the presence of God – back to its proper place in Jerusalem.

In intimacy with God, David inquired of the Lord. Too many today are not inquiring of the Lord because they would rather choose to boast of their intellect and rush into the fray without God’s wisdom and understanding to guide them. God is wiser than the wisdom of men. He sees what no man sees. God knows the beginning from the end.

David was a man who inquired of the Lord and understood the importance of the presence and power of God going before him into battle. It is expressed in 2 Samuel 5:22-25, that when again the Philistines came up and spread themselves out in the Valley of Rephaim that David inquired of the Lord.

The Lord said to David, “You shall not go up, but go around behind them and come upon them over opposite the mulberry (or balsam) trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then bestir yourselves, for then has the Lord gone out before you to smite the army of the Philistines. And David did as the Lord had commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.” (2 Samuel 5:22-25)

Let’s look at Luke 17:1-6 (KJV) and find out some things about defeating strongholds. The verses reads, “Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Luke 17:1-6 refers to the Sycamine tree (or black Mulberry tree) and through study we understand more of its relevance.

The Sycamine tree of Luke 17:6 is known to produce a fruit that is very bitter (like offenses). It has a massive root structure (not easily removed) and is pollinated when a wasp sticks its stinger into the heart of the fruit.

This bitterness and stinging appears to be what Jesus was referring to when he spoke of offenses and the need to forgive in prior verses (see Luke 17:1-4). Jesus makes it clear in Luke 17:6 that we must face these strongholds with faith. We must speak to these strongholds with the authority in Jesus name we’ve been given – commanding them to be uprooted and gone.

In summary, we gain a strategic advantage to fight and stand against the onslaught of evil by dwelling above in that glory realm rather than below in the carnal realm. We must learn to fight the battles and offenses we face by inquiring of the Lord, operating in faith rather than fear and by going forward using the authority we’ve been granted in the name of Jesus, in the power of His might, and by waving the banner of His Word.

Our battles cannot be won by striving in the flesh of man. We must face our enemies in the Jezreel battlefields, just as Jehu came forth with unwavering boldness and courage to stand against Jezebel and as David did trusting in God to bring forth victory. God has called us to reign alongside of him as kings and priests. It’s time for the David’s of this age to arise and slay the giants.

– Bruce Koch

Bruce Koch is president of Gospel Tramway. He is an author, intercessor, chaplain, pastor, teacher and preacher of God’s word. He resides in San Marcos, Texas with his wife Sherry and son Ethan.

http://www.gospeltramway.com