And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And said unto me, what seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, what are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, knowest thou not what these be? And I said, no, my lord.
Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things?
For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Zachariah 4: 8-10.
 
By the grace and the spirit of God, I take great pleasure and delights in planting churches and leaving it behind for others to continue as I witnessed the growth of a little gathering of two or three people increasing to fifties and hundreds by the power of God’s spirit and grace and has been led by the spirit of God over the past years in the ministry.
 
In the work of God, the days of little things and small beginnings are not to be despised; for they are the days of precious things, and will be the days of great things. Great mountains shall become plain, rough places shall become smooth, valley shall be made low and a grain of mustard seed shall become a great tree that the birds of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
 
Everything about God and his kingdom is all about power.
He is the Lord of Hosts, Omnipotent and the only Potentate. What he has began, he will undoubtedly accomplish it – the Lord is the Alpha and Omega. He is the indisputable and unquestionable God, the Lord of hosts is his name – the mighty man in battle – the Lord is a man of war.
 
The people of God should never demonstrate fear, weakness and any other negative traits. They must never act as a victim but as a victor – more than a conqueror – for great is the Holy of Israel among his people…..there is none like the God of Israel, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his Excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee: and shall say, destroy them….happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee: and thou shall tread upon their high places. Deuteronomy 33:26-29
 
In the book of 2 Chronicles 16 verses 1-9 we had the story of Asa the King of Israel distrusting God to make a league (an ungodly bi-lateral agreement) with Benhadad king of Syria against Baasha king of Judah. God is much displeased when we distrust and when an arm of flesh is relied on more than his power and present help in any trouble. We should never take any indirect course for answer and solution to any problem when we have the Rock of ages to rely upon. by putting our confidence in God we give him honor and he thinks himself affronted if we give that honor to another.
Asa was rebuked for his distrust in God; having forgotten the past victories in battle wrought on his behalf by divine might and power when he relied on God against the mighty Ethiopians and the Lubims with their very many chariots and horsemen…..the eyes of the Lord runs to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16: 9.
God looks into the faith in our heart; therefore, to experience the incomparable power of God in our faith walk and experiences, it must be perfect: that is,
 
(1) single and unwavering like David’s in the face of Goliath’s threats when he said to the cowards and the fearful armies of Israel…and David said to Saul, let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
And the Philistine said to David, come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
Then said David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 1 Samuel 16: 32-37: 44-51.
 
(2) Unlimited faith – the sort of Jonathan and his armor bearer’s (personal body guard) driving force in their exploit against the Philistines. At that time, the Philistines were oppressing and victimizing the Israelis. Saul was made King but with (few six hundred) and powerless army at his command. Only Saul and his prince Jonathan had swords to fight, but the rest were found with mattocks, coulters, forks and axes. The situation was terrible for the people of God and there was no prospect of overcoming the mighty and well equipped Philistines in battle.
Without the knowledge and consent of his father and the rest of the armies, Jonathan bid his armor bearer to go alongside with him to the camp of the Philistines with the hope that God shall fight for them against their mighty and well armed enemies and give them victory for the people of God….and Jonathan said to the young man that bear his armor, come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint (limitations and stoppage) to the Lord to save by many or few.
And his armor bearer said unto him, do all that is in thy heart; turn thee: behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. 1 Samuel 14: 6.
The boldness, courage and Jonathan’s faith left God with no choice than to descend as the man of war with his right hand gotten him the victory for Jonathan, his armor bearer and the house of Israel. There was trembling, great fear and earthquake among the Philistines, a supernatural terror and unseen celestial forces at work – One shall chase a thousand and two ten thousands…..if our enemies are uncircumcised as Jonathan said to his bodyguard and are not under the covenant of protection with God how dare we hold back our sword in war and behaved not as man for the people and house of our God?
Man shall not prevail; powers and principalities shall bow and be trodden under the sole of our feet if our heart is perfect toward the good God, a stronghold in the time of trouble and he knows those who put their trust in him. Nahum 1: 7.
 
(3) Steadfast and unshaken faith in God’s faithfulness to deliver as we see in the response of Shad rack, Massac and Abednego in their challenge and trail to worship and bow down to the golden image of the king if not they shall be thrown in the fire and who is that God (asked king) that shall deliver you from my hands…Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3: 14-18
These guys were resolute to their stand, position and faith. They required not the time to think and get back to the king for a compromising answer: and, if the Lord in whose power is the issues of death (Psalms 68:20) and holds the souls of his servants in life and would not suffer their feet (Psalms 66: 8-9) to be moved would not made them a martyr, they are coming out of it; and if not, it’s all well that ends well  – thus through faith, they quenched the violence of fire (Hebrews 11:34) as the Lord stepped into the fire (Isaiah 43: 2) before they were thrown into it and made the king changed his word as he decreed reverence to the God of Israel and himself bowed down and worshipped before him whose eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16: 9.
 
What shall I say again of Daniel’s die hard faith as he refused to back down from prayer and was thrown into the den of lions – in his testimony, he answered the king, I am innocent of all the charges brought against me and you know that I‘ve ever been faithful to you the king in all my assignments: and that’s why the Lord, whose eyes run to fro the earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him has sent his angels to shut the mouths of the lions that they could not hurt me. Daniel 6: 22.
 
In Judges 7 we have the story of Gideon’s commission and call to fight the Midianites and to rule over God’s heritage as king. Though his armies as their commander and general were 32,000 men in total, yet God considers the number as too much to fight the Midianites whose armies were much more doubled in numbered.  Salvation is of the Lord and by strength shall no man prevail. He would not and shall never share his glory with anyone, lest Israelis vaunt themselves to boast in victory that the majority or vast number of their armies has gotten them victory in battle, he gave Gideon a modeling of his army by which it was reduced to just 300 men. Judges 7: 2. Proverbs 16: 19.
The first method of purging them was to proclaim free and volunteer retreat to the fearful and coward soldiers as we see 22, 000 voluntarily withdrew back home from the camp. Verse 3. Nahum 3:13. Deuteronomy 20: 1-5.
God protested to Gideon again that the remaining soldiers were too much for the task and instructed his servant to bring them down to the stream and to observe how they drink to select those qualified for the fight and battle.
Many knelt down (9, 700) on their knees to drink that they might get their full satisfaction, while the rest (300 in numbers) as a dog laps with his tongue, a lap and away, so they hastily take up a little water in their hands, and cool their mouths with that and be gone – these were strong men that could endure fatigue without complaining of thirst or weariness – they had not in them any dreg either of sloth or luxury; and their priority is their service for God and country and not their necessary refreshment as they were found perfect in heart and  them the Lord employed in the fight against the Midianites for the sword of God and of Gideon’s victory….the eyes of God run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16: 9.
 
We cannot take; neither should we mistake the power of God for the power of Satan. (Acts 26:18) The former is of the light and good while the former is of the darkness and evil. While some seeks for spiritual help and fast solutions to their problems by consulting the Devil and his agents, they ignorantly sold their souls and unconsciously opened the door to the enemy and his demons to possess, oppress and afflict them increasingly.
 
King Ahaziah walked in the evil ways of Ahab his father and served Baal (the gods of heathens – demons) and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel. He fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and became very sick, closed unto death. In his sickness, he sent to Baal-zebub, which signifies the lord of a fly, was one of their Baals that gave answers either by the power of the demons or the craft of the priests with a humming noise, like of a great fly
 
Note; if in our afflictions and distresses we humbled not ourselves to seek the Lord, then shall our sorrows be multiplied and destruction fatal: much more when we hasten after other gods to enquire of them, how provocative this is in the sight of God whose anger burns like fire? He will not spare, neither shall he have pity, for the Lord thy God is a jealous God and thou shall have no other god(s) before him. Psalms 16:4. Leviticus 26: 27-39.
 
King Ahaziah sin was bad enough, giving that honour to the devil which is due to God alone, which was done as much by their enquiries as by their sacrifices. Note, It is a very wicked thing, upon any occasion or pretence whatsoever, to consult with the devil for whatever reason or urgency; even as did by the wicked Saul before his fall and death as he sought to the witch at endor….. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, none seeth me.
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels.
Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander everyone to his quarter; none shall save thee. Isaiah 47: 10-15.
 
God sent Prophet Elijah to rebuke and correct the error of the king with heavy news of his impending death…..but the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Beelzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. 2 kings 1:3-4.