Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus,
This Holy Week we take special occasion to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, The Son of God, The Son of Man, The Faithful Witness, The First Begotten from the Dead, and The Prince of the Kings of the Earth. It is through our special salvation relationship with Jesus Christ, and The Father, that we, as Believers, are made perfect, righteous, holy, and sanctified. It is through this special and wonderful relationship that we have access to the throne room of Heaven, into which we are to enter boldly with Christ Jesus, to present ourselves before The Throne of Grace, to God our Father, and shower Him with our praise, our thanksgiving, our adoration, and our willingness and obedience. We also have the privilege and honor of presenting God’s Word to Him for ourselves and for anyone or anything else that God lays on our hearts. God promises to honor His Word presented to Him in faith. This is called Truth. Our Father is so loving and wonderful to us. He wants us to have the best life here on earth and in eternity.
In recognition of Jesus’ triumph over hell and death (Revelation 1:18), we are going to look at Scripture that is near and dear to us, but that we may have a wrong understanding of under the New Covenant. Psalm 23 is probably the most recognizable Psalm in the world. Even the secular world is aware of it. I remember when I was in public elementary school in the early 60’s, every day, in class, we said Psalm 23 in addition to the Pledge of Allegiance. Can you imagine if you tried this in public schools today? This is why hell has infiltrated our education system. Every single verse of Psalm 23 is still true today with exception of part of one verse. Can you guess what in Psalm 23 is no longer true under the New Covenant?
Luke 3:5-6
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Luke 3:4-6 comes right from Isaiah 40:3-5. Isaiah is a book of prophecy. The verses are speaking of what will happen when Jesus, the Messiah, is born of a virgin, lives a sinless life, and is crucified, buried, and resurrects. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, King, and Savior, there are to be no more valleys, no more mountains or hills, no more crooked paths, and no more rough ways – unless we choose them. This doesn’t mean you are not confronted with them, but the answer to every valley, mountain or hill, crooked path, or rough way is found in Zechariah 4:7.
Zechariah 4:7
Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
Zerubbabel is a type of Jesus Christ found in the Old Testament. Although Zechariah 4:7 is speaking about a mountain, which is anything that opposes The Word of God, Truth, in your life (affliction, persecution, temptation, cares of this world, etc.), you can also substitute valleys, crooked paths, and rough ways in place of the word mountain in the verse. This verse teaches us, like Isaiah 40:3-5 and Luke 3:4-6, we overcome any challenge of any kind in our life by shouting The Truth of God’s Word to it – Grace, Grace. We must remember Grace is the unmerited, unearned, undeserved, and unlimited love and favor of God. We can do ALL THINGS through Jesus Christ which strengthens us – the Salvation of God.
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 Thy staff they comfort me.
We understand there are no longer valleys, mountains and hills, crooked paths, or rough ways in Christ Jesus. What kind of valley does Psalm 23:4 describe? The valley of the shadow of death. This, too, is no longer true under the New Covenant in Christ Jesus. Are there shadows in Heaven? No. A shadow is an absence of light. I John 1:5 tells us “God is light.” The Scriptures tell us Heaven has no need for the sun because God’s glory lights all of Heaven. There is no absence of light in Heaven; therefore, there are no shadows. Likewise, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Godhead becomes the Spirit inside us. This means everywhere we walk, we walk with “The Light,” which is God, inside us. Any shadows, an absence of light, is dispelled by us with God, Who is Light, inside us. Proverbs 4:18 gives us a clear depiction of the Believer’s walk in this earth.
Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
The phrase “the perfect day,” in Hebrew, means the time of day when the sun is at its strongest. This is noonday when the sun is directly overhead. Any hunter or country boy worth his salt knows there are no shadows at noonday when the sun is directly overhead. So, too, is the Godhead in us. We have a light in us that is brighter than the noonday sun. Paul speaks of this when Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus.
Acts 26:13
At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
Notice Paul said his encounter with Jesus was as a light shining brighter than the sun. Amazing!! God’s glory, alone, is the greatest source of light in all of creation. And this is Who lights our way if we allow Him to do so.
In closing, let’s quit giving the devil any glory by speaking of valleys and mountains or of shadows of death. Jesus took the keys, or the authority and power, of hell and death from satan when He resurrected. satan has no authority and no power in our lives unless WE give it to him. Let’s quit glorifying the mountains, hills, valleys, crooked paths, and rough ways in our lives and speak only The Truth of God’s Word over all our lives and the lives of our family, our businesses or jobs, our finances, our health, our marriages, our children, our ministries, etc. To God be the glory means we glorify His Word and Him, one and the same, over satan and the weak, futile challenges he tries to bring. Let’s revere the amazing and greatest accomplishment in all of creation and time, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and from hell to eternal life at the right hand of God The Father where He intercedes for us every single moment of time.
Much love in Christ Jesus,
Larry