Date: November 8, 2018 ()

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I hope as we do this series on the timing of God in a person’s life that they make a big difference. Maybe you are going through something and you need encouragement that everything is going to be okay. It is all going to work out. Today we are doing the timing of the breakthrough, Lord of the Breakthrough. That is those times when you say, “Lord, I need a breakthrough. I need a breakthrough in my finances. I need a breakthrough in my marriage. I need a breakthrough in this relationship I have with somebody. Lord, I need a breakthrough in my relationship with You. I need something new. I need something exciting. I need you to do something different in my life. I need a breakthrough, Lord.” Have you ever felt like that? Oh boy, have we all.

Who are we going to study today that got a breakthrough in his life over and over and over? How did he do it? What did he do? Are there things you can do to cause that breakthrough to happen? When you are thinking about a breakthrough, what goes through your mind? Unexpected, surprises you, caught you off-guard, came unexpectedly in such a way that you thought, “Oh my goodness, is that God?” We are going to study David, a king of the nation of Israel. We are going to learn some things and watch what King David did. Sometimes we get too familiar with David. We read about how he grew up. We read about the mistakes he made in his personal relations and the mistakes he made with his children. We get too personal with him and we do not realize we are talking about the king of a nation that God anointed.

Kings are not much different from anybody else. Maybe they have a place in life none of us can understand yet when you go into their real life, they have real life issues going on. Everybody is pretty much the same all over the world. They have issues with their families, finances and marriages. We are all just people.

(Look at this picture. That is how we think of David; young, viral, strong and going against Goliath. Just about the time he let go of that slingshot this is the look on his face because he had said, “I come at you in the name of the Lord of the Armies of Heaven.”) Don’t you know he let out a shout when that stone took off. What happened? He got a breakthrough all right. In fact, the whole army of Israel got the breakthrough. What had been going on right before this breakthrough occurred? It happens a lot like this when you are about to have a breakthrough: defeat, fear, very unsettled, very disturbed, no one knows what to do and there does not seem to be any kind of an answer. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever thought, “Lord, if you don’t do it, it isn’t going to happen?” Or have you thought, “Lord, I am trying to think every way in the world to make this thing happen. I cannot think of anything. You are going to have to do it, Lord. I don’t know what to do.”

What translation of the Bible is the best one to use? Actually, it is whichever one you like the best. You should go to a Christian book store and look at the different Bibles. There is a translation for just about anything you can think of. I personally use the New Living Translation because it is like reading a good book. It is very easy for people to understand when you are quoting from it. Some people like the King James because they say it is very poetic in the way it is written. Some people like the New International Version. Some people like the New King James Version. Some people like the Amplified Bible. For those of you who like to watch Joyce Meyer, I have heard people say, “You mean the Joyce Meyer multiple choice Bible?” It makes me laugh, but she uses the Amplified Bible a lot trying to help you get the hidden meaning out of things that God is trying to say to you. The main thing is, read the Bible. If you are somebody who has a lot of trouble reading the Bible, consider getting the Message Bible. It is probably the easiest of all to understand. It is just so interesting. I love it.

Whichever Bible translation you have, I want you to open it to 1 Chronicles 14:8-17. What are we talking about? We are talking about David conquering the Philistines. Now the Philistines were people who lived near the seaside and they were like the Phoenicians or Egyptians. They just were different from the Israelites. They were very war-like. They had a lot of battles and won a lot of battles. They were a very strong people and a formidable enemy for anybody to have to face. They conquered God’s people many times. Why did that happen if God was for his people? Because His people had turned away from Him and they were not living for God. Have you noticed that has happened to you sometimes? There was a time in your life God was fighting your battles. Things were happening in such a wonderful way and then you begin to gradually turn your back away from the Lord. All of a sudden your enemies are conquering you. They are defeating you and you need a breakthrough. What do you do? What is the first thing you do?

What did David do? It says, “When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him but David was told they were coming so he marched out to meet them. Right there is the beginning of the breakthrough, taking action. Do not wait for things to happen. Figure out what you can do and make it happen. Step out there. Let the Lord lead you. Let Him tell you what to do. It says in verse 9, the Philistines arrived and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. What did David do right off the bat when he needed this breakthrough? Who did he run to? Did he run to his advisors? Did he run to some old man who was wise? Did he think back to what he had done before in a battle plan? No, when you need a breakthrough maybe what you have always done is not going to work. You have to have a fresh idea from God. The Bible says right there in verse 10, so David asked God. He just said, “God, should I go out and fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” And he waited for an answer. The Lord replied, “Yes, I will hand them over to you.” That gave David the confidence to fight for that breakthrough.

It takes a lot of courage to step out and go in the direction of your enemy. iI heard a sermon called “Run to the Roar.” The point was that instead of running away from your enemies, you should run toward them. It throws them into confusion. Another thing I heard one time, I heard about a lady who was on a street and some really big, strong guys in a gang came up and she could tell they are going to try to rob her. “What do I do, Lord, what do I do?” She ran up to the biggest one of all and said, “Would you protect me? I’m scared.” It threw everybody into confusion. The guy goes, “Uh, uh, yes I will.” But I have an even funnier one to tell you. This just makes me laugh every time I think about it. You know the Bible verse that says in Psalms you find shelter under the shadow of his wings, you get under his feathers. I heard about a young woman who was going to Oral Roberts University. She was walking across the campus late at night and somebody started following her. She got so scared. She had been taught to stand on the Word of God and she could not remember that verse. She said, “I’m covered with feathers! I’m covered with feathers!” The man ran off. He thought she was crazy. David even did that one time fighting his enemies. He played like he was crazy. This time, he heard the Word of the Lord. He needed that breakthrough. He went up and fought. He did not run.

Look at verse 11. “So David and his troops went up to Baalperazim and defeated the Philistines there. “God did it,” David exclaimed. Do you do that? When God gives you your breakthrough? Do you tell people, “God did it. The Lord did that for me.” Oh, it honors the Lord when you do that. You know what it causes people to do? First it causes them to think you are humble. It also causes them to think there is a God, this person believes in God, and this person goes to God for help because that is what came out of their mouth. God did it. Then David tells how God did it. Look at this verse. “He used me to burst through my enemies like a raging flood.” In fact, it was such a big thing that God did through David, they named the place Baalperazim which means the Lord who breaks through, so the Lord of the Breakthrough. That is who you serve. That is who fights in your behalf and that is who wants to help you today, the Lord of the Breakthrough. What happened to the Philistines? They did not turn to God. They did not believe in God.

They had other gods they turned to. They could have turned to their gods then. It would not have done them any good.

Recently I have been reading in Psalms and it says that those gods are really demons, demon spirits. I did not know that. I learned that from reading the Bible recently. But the Philistines abandoned their gods there. Here you have two sets of people who need a breakthrough: King David and his men and the Philistines and their men. What did each group do? One turned to God and said, “Shall I fight them and will you help me?” He said, “Yes” and they went forward. The other group of people, the Philistines, abandoned their gods. They did not help them at all. They ran off and left them. They were just pieces of wood and metal. They left them. What did David do? He said, “Burn them.” They burned every one of them. I guess they were wood. I do not know. You would think if God had done a great breakthrough for you, you could just sit back and ride the glory. It does not work like that, does it? You kind of get a little bit of a rest and then here we go again. Sometimes I think, “Lord, how long until you come? I am so ready for you to come. Come on back, Jesus, I am so tired. I am ready.” The Lord says, “Not yet, not yet. You need to keep going.” As long as there is breath in you, you are going to have those times that you have to battle for what you believe in. You have to believe God for the breakthrough because you are not going to have any other hope. It is going to have to be God or nothing. Then you have that great breakthrough and then here comes another enemy and maybe it is a different enemy. Maybe it is the same enemy, again. Look at verse 13, “After awhile, the Philistines returned and they raided the valley again.” Why does that happen? Matthew 12:43-45 says the demon has been cast out of somebody, the house is swept clean, they come back to see if it is clean and empty. If it is, they bring seven worse. There it is in the Old Testament. I am sure they were thinking, “He got us that time, but we can get him this time.” Maybe the devil thinks that about you. What are you going to do?

Verse 14 is a powerful verse. If you could tear a verse out of your Bible and put it up on your mirror where you saw it every day, verse 14 in the New Living Translation would be a great verse. Just this sentence, “And once again, David asked God what to do.” That is how you get your breakthrough. You could put your name in there. Once again, Betty asked God what to do. This time, though, God gave a different answer. When there is a breakthrough, there is an answer but it may be a different answer every time. You cannot ever assume that what worked before will work again. It is like when I do these lessons. I pray at the very beginning, but I have to stop and pray all along the way because I am trying to hear the Lord. I am trying to say what he wants me to say and I cannot just pray at the very beginning. I have to go back and ask the Lord over and over as I do these lessons, “What do you want to say here? Is there anything you want me to do here?” You would be really surprised. There are things I do in these lessons I did not plan on doing, never even thought about doing, but all of a sudden the idea came to me, “Do it this way. Say it this way.” I do not know what the purpose of that is. I just know that David inquired of the Lord. It is a wise thing to do all along in a project, inquire of the Lord. Sure enough, this time God said, “Do not attack them straight on.” That is what David did last time. We read that. It said, “They went up and they defeated them.” This time God says, “Do not do it straight on.” That is probably a lot of wisdom even in battle. If you are a person in the military, you might understand that. It would not have worked the second time and here is why. God said, “Instead, circle around behind them and attack them near the poplar trees.” Think about that. What in the world did a certain kind of tree have to do with winning a battle that a king needed to win against vicious, powerful, strong enemies?

God always has a strategy. When God has your breakthrough coming, He has a plan. You have to know what it is. Here was God’s unusual plan in verse 15, “When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, go out and attack.” God was using nature to defeat men. When the wind blew through those leaves, it sounded like a lot of soldiers and it scared those Philistines. God can win battles in the most unusual ways in your life and in my life. Very unusual and all we have to do is trust him and say, “Okay, Lord, what do I do this time? Same problem back again, how do I defeat it this time? How do I get my breakthrough this time?” God said, “When you hear that sound of marching feet in the trees.” That will be the signal that God is moving ahead of you to attack the Philistine army. This time God was moving ahead of them. Do you hear that? David did what God commanded. I want you to put yourself in David’s place. Did it take faith to do that? Yes, it did. Will it take faith for you to do God’s marching orders for you? Yes, it will. You want to be really sure that you have spent that time, you heard God and you are going to do it. What happened? They struck down the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gazer.

What happens when God gives you your breakthrough and you follow His command? What happens? The fame of God spreads because people talk about it. For one thing, you talk about it. When God gives you a breakthrough, you are going to tell somebody. You are not going to keep it to yourself. It is too exciting. It is too wonderful. You want to tell everybody. David’s fame spread. He became such a hero in the people’s eyes. They said, “David heard God. God helped David and God did a miracle. God did a giant breakthrough.” David was a champion and God is looking for champions. You can be a champion. I do not care if you have had failure in your life or not. I do not care if you are old. You can be a champion because God is looking for champions. Zechariah 4:10 says, “The Lord searches to and fro over the whole earth seeking those He might be made strong in.” You may not be that strong on your own, but when God has come and searched and found you; He realizes there is one I can be made strong in, there is one right there. He probably even says to the angels, “Look, see that one. I can be made strong in that one. Watch what I can do through this one.” It could be anybody on the face of the earth. Why not you?

Have you ever learned to just say, “Why not me?” When you see people who have done great things with their lives and you talk to them and ask, “How did you get started?” They are just ordinary people who believe in an extraordinary God. They believe in the God of the breakthrough. They step up. They kill giants. They are fierce fighters. They turn to God. They get their directions. What would be a real good definition of a champion? Somebody who stepped out from the crowd. You do not see champions in the middle of a crowd, do you? They step out and they fight those fights everybody is afraid to fight. Everybody else does not have the wisdom to know how to fight. That is why we admire champions so much.

What did David do, right off the bat? I want to go over that again because I think sometimes we sit and wait for God to do something. Just remember in verse 8, David went on the offensive. Remember, God loves champions. You have to get on the offensive. You cannot just wonder what to do and sit around and wait for that answer forever. You have to get on the offensive.

I heard a pastor in Africa say, “Everybody is sitting around waiting for God to do a miracle.” He said, “I’ve learned that you have to step into your miracle. If you wait until you can see all the answers and how it is all going to work out, you will never step out. You will never get your miracle and never get your breakthrough.” He said, “You have to step into your miracle.”

I have a friend who is just a little lady. She is about 5’2”, sweet, funny and a smart business woman. She has these baby blue eyes and little dimples when she smiles. She looks like she is just the sweetest little thing and she is. I want to tell you, that woman is a tiger on the inside. I have seen her do things. You talk about a champion – when it gets tough, she runs into it. She runs to the roar. She gets on the offensive and goes after it. I have seen her call up the FBI and turn in people on drugs. She would call up the FBI and say, ‘These people are doing drugs, they are selling drugs and I’m sick and tired of it. This is where they live and this is what they are doing. Go get them.” She even went to Houston, Texas to the house of a drug dealer and said, “Where is my child?” The drug dealer said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said, “You do too, and I am powerful. If you mess with me, you are going to really be sorry so where is he?” It scared him to death. I love it. Let me tell you what else she did one time. I saw her do. We heard all this loud noise outside our window. It woke us up. There was screaming, hollering, yelling and drums beating. I thought, “Oh my word, what’s happening?” I jumped out of bed and I am quoting the Word, but I want to lock the door. Not Sherry. She jumps up, runs down the hall trying to figure out where this is coming from and going after it.

That is a champion and David was a champion. He got that breakthrough. He got on the offensive but first. Do not ever forget this. He asked God, “Should I do it? Will you help me?” He waited until he got the answer. Then he gave God the glory. You have to remember that. It is an important thing to do. David rejoiced in his part. When you get that breakthrough, there is a part you have to play in it. It is not being full of pride to rejoice, “I did it. I did it.” Rejoice in the part you were able to play.

Another thing you have to remember is you have to destroy demons. You have to go after God’s enemy. You have the power of the Lord to do it. God expects you to do it. If they come back again, what did we go over? That God told David what he needed to do. He had David stay on the alert, look, notice what is next, the next plan of action. You can have a breakthrough, too. Turn to God and say, “Should I do it? What do I do?” You will have your breakthrough.

QUIET TIME QUESTIONS

1. What does it mean to be a champion for God? (Refer to Zechariah 4:10).
2. When David was faced with the enemy, what did he do?
3. How important is faith to follow through with God’s marching orders for you?
4. What is the most important thing to do after the Lord has given you the breakthrough?

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