Victory
in the valley of the shadow of death
PSALM 23:4
“ Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy
rod and they staff, they comfort me.”
Valley
Deep hollow between
mountains; a low land flanked on both sides by high lands.
It always has deep waters, streams, and wells flowing through. Shepherds love
valleys because of the green grass growing there that can be good food for
their flocks. The fact that it is flanked by mountains on both sides shades if
from direct sunlight; covered by the shadow of the mountains. The height of the
mountains could impose darkness on the valley; at day time and the prevailing
temperature will be very cool. As cool and good as the valley, it is a place where
terrible animals are found. Animals like bears, wolves
serpents, etc. because they like the atmosphere of the valley. It could be in a
valley that David fought with bears and lions and he won because the Lord was
with him.
In the valley, there could be thunderstorms and flood and rocking’s falling
from the mountains. As cool as the valley is, it could be very dangerous.
“Though I walk trough the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”
A person could be passing through the valley of sickness, financial loss,
frustration, marital turbulence and disgrace, dishonour and the most dangerous
one is the valley of the shadow of death.
Shadow
A figure produced from the
blockage of light by another figure. It is not the real thing,
it is a representation of it. The shadow of a dog cannot bite because it is not
the real animal. The shadow of a serpent cannot bite. The shadow o f a gun
cannot kill. No matter how dark a shadow could be, it reminds one of the presence of light because it is when light is shielded, that
a shadow is produced.
Thanks to the lord for the preservation of your life. Many of the places you
have passed through, are valleys of the shadow of
death. You passed through those places because the Lord is with you.
VICTORY IN THE VALLEY
INHABITANTS OF THE
There
are different creatures in the valley. The first and most prominent which must
be dealt with, is fear.
1)
Fear: Men run away from dangerous animals, electricity, accidents etc, because
they fear death. People go about looking for charms from herbalists because
they fear death.
People carry out sacrifices and join cults and lodges because of the fear of
failure and death.
When the fear of death grips you, you die before your time. When the fear of
poverty grips you, you die before your time. It is a tragedy for a poor man to
refer to you as a poor man.
There was a man who said “NO” to poverty. He was provoked to rebel against the
spirit of poverty because, one day, someone came to look for him at the school
and a student helped them out. They went to the church and the student found
the teacher’s sandals amongst others at the entrance of the church. It was a
tattered pair of sandals, which the teacher had always worn and was identified
with. He was surprised that they knew where he was. When he asked them, the boy
said he saw his sandals and recognized them. It was that day that the teacher
started war against the spirit of poverty.
When fear gets hold of a person, it opens the door to other demons. Fear is
something that gets hold of people and no one else can deliver them from it
except the Lord, through prayers and the word of God. Fear distracts people
from the Lord, on whom they should focus. If it were said that the lord Jesus
would appear in the room where you are and that He would be there for just one
second, your focus would be on the door; so that you will not miss Him.
Suddenly, you hear someone shout; “snake, snake” your attention will be shifted
from the door to the direction of the cry. This is fear. However some people
will be undaunted; because they know what it means for them to see Jesus at the
moment He arrives they will not shake, even though the snake is creeping all
over them.
Fear paralyses faith. David says; “Though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
There is a saying that “thousands die before their death”.
Fear buries spiritual growth. It announces your location to destructive agents.
It is a terrible thing and most common demon in the world.
One day at the Chemistry laboratory when I was a student. We were asked to
carry out some experiments but a student decided to fabricate an explosive,
which was used during the civil war. Suddenly, there was an exposition and the
supervisor, a professor, dived out the laboratory through the window. He fell
flat on the ground and almost broke his legs. When asked why he ran away
without knowing what it was, he told us that it was safer that way because if
it were a dangerous thing, he would have escaped death. This is a clear
demonstration of fear.
I was travelling one day in a commercial vehicle and it ran off the road. Thank
God, nothing happened and the journey continued. Suddenly we saw smoke oozing out
of the engine and the driver stopped the vehicle. Then, people started
screaming and jumping out through the windows, in the process, many got
themselves seriously wounded and some almost ran into the way of other vehicles
passing. The real thing that happened could not have killed but people almost
got killed in the process of escape because of the fear of death.
Is there fear in your life? Some people fear heights, some fear marriage. Many
lives are ruined by fear. If you want to obtain victory in the valley of the
shadow of death, fear must get out of your life.
Call your name and ask yourself what you are scared of. Command
fear to get out off your life right now. Identify the area where the
enemy wants to get hold of you.
The opposite of fear in English is courage or boldness, but according to the
Bible, faith is the opposite of fear.
2) Sting of Death: 1Corinthians 15:54
“So, when this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal shall have
put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass, the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory”. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory? “The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the
law”.
Sin is the sting of death. If you play with sin, it will sting you to death.
The Bible says: “ The wages of sin is death”. This
means that sin pays salary and the currency in which it pays it is death.
Sin is the greatest instrument of death. When a sinner dies, he dies; but when
a Christian dies, he has been called home by God; to him, death is a special
sleep or rest very soon, the trumpet will sound and Christians will be taken up
in rapture.
Death was already in the Garden of Eden. It was tied to a tree and Adam and Eve
were warned not to eat the fruit because the day that they did, they shall die.
This was the first introduction to the word “death”. It came forth because of
the disobedience of Adam and Eve to God’s word. God’s pronouncement now came
upon Adam; that because he had done it he shall die and return to dust, because
he is dust himself.
The devil is the author of sin and he gave a share of it to Adam. Since Satan
is the author of sin and sin brought death, Satan now becomes the controller of
death. Although God has the power to say yes or no, Satan controls the
department of death when you go to sin.
- My name is not in that department of death in the Name of Jesus.
Man through sin has given the devil ample opportunity to kill men as he likes
and carts them to hell fire.
3) Sickness (the spirit of infirmity). It renders medical science powerless. It
could turn an adult to a baby. This serpent of sickness crawls about in the
valley of the shadow of death and manipulates all sorts of terrible things.
4) Drinkers of blood and eaters of flesh. They kill the careless and
unprotected. They dig deep into the person’s background to see if there are
open doors through which they can move in and also look for seats, and install
themselves.
5) Spirit of family destruction. Some families die in horrible and mysterious
ways. This spirit kills according to pattern or at random. Sometimes it is the
male children that will be dying; sometimes, it is a chosen age group.
6. Lack of knowledge- ignorance through ignorance, many Christians have become a prey to Satan. Some people collect demonic
clinical prophesies and sanctions which lead to their death.
If you don’t know anything about spiritual warfare or sending back evil arrows
to their senders or you don’t know the activities of the amputators,
wasters, emptiers, and you don’t know how to plead
the Blood of Jesus upon yourself and your situations, you may be heading for a
premature death.
Many Christians die this way. They walk through the valley of the shadow of
death in ignorance. The battle between David and the bear and the lion must
have been fought in that valley. If you walk in this valley and you want to
come out victorious, you must have the spirit of a fighter.
A man went fishing one day and he found out that he did not catch anything.
Suddenly, a serpent came out of the river in great fury and his canoe capsized.
He found himself in the bottom of the river and saw strange faces, including a
dead uncle. This uncle asked him what he came to do there and he told him the
story. The uncle warned him never to fish in that river anymore. This uncle
went into his room and brought out fresh fish and gave to this man. He took it
and cooked at home, for his family. Within 6months, they were all dead. If the
man had knowledge of spiritual things, he would have known that the dead uncle
living in a house under the waters, was a spirit, he would also have known that
the fish he gave him was not ordinary and he would either not have taken it or
would have thrown it away.
Death did not overcome Jesus. Jesus conquered the devil and took the keys of
hell and death from Satan and Jesus was victorious over the devil so, believers
should not be afraid of anything; even death.
I want you to ask yourself the following questions;
1. Do you have the spirit of fear tormenting you constantly?
2. Do you sometimes feel lifeless and sick of living?
3. How long do members of your family live before they die?
4. Do you have a family altar or shrine
5. Have you ever participated in rituals and sacrifices before?
6. Do you have an illness that defies medicine?
7. Have you gone through surgical operations that have proven abortive?
8. Has anyone ever told you that you look like a dead relative?
9. Were you named after a dead relative?
Know for sure that you have been caged in that valley, if your answers to these
questions are in affirmative.
10. Have you ever been to uniformed churches and have used charms, prayer
soaps, perfumes, sponge, etc.
11. Were you always ill as a child and you have incisions all over your body?
12. As a young bride, were you put in a fattening room?
13. Do you see strange things, hear voices that others don’t see nor hear?
14. Are you excessively stubborn?
15. Are you addicted to alcohol, tobacco, and hard drugs?
16. Do you experience terrible menstrual pains?
17. Do you have sleepless nights?
18. Do you suddenly become dizzy? You get sad and moody without cause?
19. Do you feel things moving all over your body?
20. Do you feel pressed down or strangulated
21. Do you wake up in the morning and find scratches on your body?
WAY OUT
1. Fear must go.
2. Depart from sin
3. Adopt the heart of the fighter.
Beloved, if you are reading this bulletin and you had never surrendered your
life to Christ, I would advise you to do so now. See yourself as a sinner and
know that you cannot approach God in your sinful state. Repent of these sins,
name them and ask God to forgive you. Ask him to cleanse you with the precious
Blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross at Calvary for your sake.
Ask the Lord Jesus to come into your life and be your personal Lord and saviour. Submit your totality to him and promise not to go
back to the world any more.
Say goodbye to the devil and sin in the name of Jesus Christ.
PRAYER POINTS
1.Command the spirit of fear to depart from you in the Name of Jesus
2.Mention the type of fear (death, failure, rejection, etc.) and command it to
leave.
3. Call on the Almighty God, the One who is mightier than the mightiest, higher
than the highest, greater than the greatest, stronger than the strongest. The One
whose power cannot be challenged.
4. Every inherited fear, from my mother- side, release me in the Name of Jesus
- From my father – side
- Inherited bondages break in the Name of Jesus
5 Every witchcraft attack in my dream die in the Name of Jesus
6 Holy Ghost fire; deliver me now in the Name of Jesus.
7 Every witchcraft power manipulating my destiny, die in the Name of Jesus
8 Wicked animal spirits come out of my body, in the Name of Jesus.
9 Every weapon of bewitchment in my life, break away in the Name of Jesus.
10 Your destiny quenchers, I bury you today, in the Name of Jesus.
11 Every spirit of tragedy, gather yourselves, go back to your sender
12 Every spirit of sorrow
- Untimely death
- Backsliding
- Frustration
- Failure
- Disappointment
- Poverty
- Arrow of witchcraft
- Arrow of familiar spirits
- Marine spirits
- Arrow of sickness
- Arrow from the heavenliness
- Arrow from the forest
- Arrow from my place of birth
- Foolishness
- Spiritual failure
- Financial loss
- Marital disturbance
- Insanity
… gather yourselves , go back to sender in the Name of Jesus .
13. Failure, disappear; breakthroughs, appear in the Name of Jesus
14 Every poverty pursuing me from my father- side, die in the Name of Jesus.
- From my mother –side; die in the Name of Jesus.