VALLEY OF BREAKTHROUGH

Yesterday I read in Journals of the Heart that the reason all evil schemes and plans are now made manifest in my life is so that they will be destroyed. The enemy's works are manifest to be destroyed in order to bring about the fulfillment of all God has called me to be. With the destruction of all that hinders there will be an increase in my ability to behold Jesus. Line upon line God reveals them…incident by incident He uncovers them enabling me to overcome and walk in freedom.

This message was similar to the message on Valley of Baal Perazim in Pastor Joel's blog. He was talking about how David conquered an entire valley of giants and renamed it as Valley of Perazim or breakthrough in 1 Chronicles 14:11. David boasted that His God has broken through the waters for him. It was an amazing breakthrough. Why was this place renamed after Baal a god of the Philistines and not after the Lord? Because at this place the enemy thought he was the strongest – so David called it Baal Perazim meaning that God broke through in the strongest place of the enemy - God wants to give you a breakthrough in those areas of your life that the enemy is the strongest.

I thought I had crossed my Jordan and overcame the giants last July. But it was only recently that I realised God was revealing those evil schemes and plans in my life in order to destroy them. Line upon line, incident upon incident like the fear over seeing Psalms 23:4, the misconception about Habbakuk 2:3, about God's appointed time. He uncovered all these so that I could overcome them and walk in freedom. Not only that, God also restored the lost peace and joy over my exit from ministry work. With the destruction of all these evil works, and all that hinders, I am set free to behold Jesus.

Yesterday Heng and I talked about the valley of breakthrough. We reflected upon our valley experiences in the past year. For Heng, it was the uncertainty of his finance portfolio. For me, it was mainly my ministry experiences as the Lord told me to lay it down and also the negative experiences in healing ministry. I also had other valley experiences like attacks on my body, struggles with bitterness etc. It wasn't pleasant at that time but it was necessary. Besides we were only passing through the valley, not camping there. It was only temporary.

Heng said that such valley experiences served to build up our faith and make us grow. Actually the valley was a set up for God's blessings. So we need not be afraid of the valleys. Pastor Prince also mentioned in his sermon yesterday that many times a person went through certain valley experiences because of his calling or destiny. The purpose of such valley experiences was to enrich and bless the body of Christ after the person came out of the valley. He would be a better and stronger person.

Recently I had many mentions of the valley: be it the valley of shadow of death or valley of blessing or valley of breakthrough. Through it all, the message is consistent: God is with me through the valley so I don't need to fear. Besides I am not going to camp in that valley. I am only passing through. However intense my experiences are, they are only temporary. And after I have passed through the valley, I would have come out a much better person. Besides, there would be spoils and rewards from coming out of the valley.