From Baca to Beracha, Part 3

Greetings, friends and new listeners. Welcome to The Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Notz thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Our message today is for all who have ever experienced the Valley of Tears, a place where it seems all blessings are cut off or lost. It's entitled From Baka to Baraka. God wants to take you from Baka, the Valley of Tears, to Baraka, the Valley of Blessings, and turn your tears into triumph. I preach this message by personal experience, so I'm excited to tell you how to get from Baka to Baraka. If God is for me, he's more than all that can be against me.

So I'm not worried about who's against me, I just want to know who's for me. Amen? So there's no fear of the enemy when we're in God's house, and we know that the captain of the Lord's host is looking out for us. He will give grace, and he will give glory. I wish I could park here a while. I preached about grace Wednesday night.

You're in a test? Well, get that message, because God's got more than enough grace. His grace is more than sufficient for you, and he told you come boldly to the throne of grace and ask for grace. So God is not only going to give you grace so you can come through the Valley of Tears, he is not only going to bring you out.

God doesn't want to just bring you out hanging on by the skin of your teeth. He wants to bring you out and give you glory. He wants to give you the spoils. If you read the Old Testament, whenever they went into a city and God sent them to destroy it, they were allowed to take the spoils. And we, you know that word spoil, what does that mean? It means the loot.

Amen? It means that they would get to take the silver, the gold, the goods, whatever. They got to take that and they gave a portion to God in his house and the rest they got to keep it. God said they could keep it.

There were certain times God said, don't keep any to give me all of it, but most of the time they were allowed to have a part for themselves. So God doesn't want to just bring you through the test, barely hanging on. He not only wants to give you grace to endure, he not only wants to make a way of escape for you, he wants to give you glory. Somebody said you don't have to wait till the battle's over.

Shout now. He wants to turn your tears into triumph. He wants to bring you from the valley of Baca and you may go around the ways, but you're going to come back to the same valley only this time you're not going to go forth with weeping for joy comes in the morning. Weeping only in jars for the night, but joy comes in the morning and he's going to turn your Baca into Baraka and your valley of tears is going to become a valley of dancing and shouting because God's going to give you grace to get through and that he's going to give you glory. He's going to give you the blessings.

He's going to give you the spoils. When they came and took David's family and all of their family, when they were at Ziggelag and they came back from the battle and their wives were going and their kids were going, everything they had was gone. The people were so down, they hit bottom.

They couldn't have gone any lower. They went so low they were ready to stone David as though it were his fault. He was missing his wives and kids too.

The Bible says David encouraged himself in the Lord. He couldn't look the brother at so and so. He was going to stone him.

He couldn't look the brother over here. He was going to stone him. So he encouraged himself in the Lord and he said, Lord, what should I do?

Should I pursue? God said pursue because you're not only going to get back every last thing. You're not going to only get back every shoelace.

You're going to get back every grain of corn, but you're going to take the spoils too. Amen? God will give us grace. God will give us glory. Hallelujah. The last verse, verse 12, repeating again, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. You are the captain. Hallelujah.

When he appeared under Joshua, Joshua looked up and saw that great mighty man. He said, who are you? Are you, just tell me one thing. Are you for us?

Are you against us? He said, I want you to know I'm the captain of the Lord's host and I've come to give you the victory. And Joshua said, that's all I needed to know. And God will turn the valley of tears into a valley of triumph. And those who trust in me will be blessed. And if I was writing this Psalm, I right here is where I would have said, bless is the man that trusteth in thee, Selah. Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee, Selah.

Help me out out there. Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee, Selah. Amen.

I'm almost done. Turn with me to Joshua 7. I'm going to read a couple of verses here. I'm going to talk to you now about the valley. We've talked about the valley of Baka becoming the valley of Barakah. The valley of tears becoming the valley of blessings and triumph.

Now in Joshua 7, I'm going to paraphrase and give you the setting. They had just won the great battle of Jericho. Everybody knows about the battle of Jericho. How that the walls fell straight down. And how that they went in and utterly spoiled the city. They didn't lose one person. They went up against a fortified city.

And they didn't lose one. They utterly burned the city. And God had told them up front, here's the key, up front God had said, I'm going to give you the city and I'm going to give you the spoils. When you get the spoils, this is the first fruit. This is the first city of conquest.

After coming out of the wilderness into Canaan, the first city of conquest was Jericho. And God said the first is mine. God doesn't want second, third, fourth or last.

He wants first. He said, now you will take the spoils. But in this case, all the spoils go to my house. Later on, I'll give you your spoils and your glory. But this time, everyone is to turn the spoils into the house of God. They won the battle gloriously.

They collected all the spoils and brought it to the house of God. The next city was a little tiny city called Ai. It was so small that when Joshua sent out some scouts to look it over, they said, you know, compared to Jericho, this is nothing. We don't need to take the whole army.

Just take a few guys up. But you know what happened? When they went up before that little city, those people in that city chased them and 36 Israelites were killed. They were in total shock.

How could this happen? We just won this formidable city of Jericho and now a tiny little nothing of a town who ever heard of and we lost, we got beat and 36 of our men were killed. They were in a state of shock.

And so was Joshua. He said, God, what is going on here? He got down on his face. He said, I don't understand this.

You give us Jericho and you let us lose Ai and some of our men perish. God, I don't understand this. God said, Joshua, get up. Just get up. What are you doing down there with your face on the ground?

Get up. You'd ask me and I told you what the problem was, but that's the problem. You went there without asking me. You got confident because you won Jericho and you thought, well, we don't need to pray this one.

We can just lean on our own understanding and you went based. If you'd have prayed, I would have told you before you go, I'll give you the city, but before you go, there's sin in the camp and before I can give you victory, you got to get sin out. If you would have prayed, I would have told you that somebody didn't obey my commandment and somebody was covetous and somebody was greedy and they saw that golden, uh, that wedge of gold in that Babylonian garment and they thought, now you know all those spoils ain't nobody going to miss this one little dress. Ain't nobody going to miss this one little robe. Ain't nobody going to miss this one little wedge of gold. I'll take it.

Nobody will ever miss it. And he went into his tent and nobody saw him and he dug a hole in the ground and he hid it in the ground, put dirt over it and put a carpet over it. But God saw him and God said, if you would have prayed, I would have told you they're sin in the camp and I can't bless where their sin. You've got to get the sin out first. Joshua said, all right, cost 36 men their lives just cause somebody didn't pray just cause somebody didn't go before the Lord and inquire of God. 36 men had to die.

Amen. So God didn't desert Israel, but he just let them learn a lesson. So Joshua said, what must we do, Lord? And God told him how to bring the tribes and then they chose, got it down to one tribe and then to bring the families and they got it down to one family and then to bring them before him.

They got it down to one man and the man's name was Achan. And that's where we'll pick up here in Joshua 7 verse 24. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zerah and the silver and the garment and the wedge of gold.

And listen to this, this man's disobedience didn't only affect him, it affected his whole family and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and the sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them into the valley of Achor. What was the name of the valley? The valley of Achor.

Everyone say the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all of Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

This was utter reproach. Now they were already dead. They killed him with the stones, but then to show that God wanted nothing to do with that sin, they had to burn their bones. And when they had burned the bones, they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day.

So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of the place was called the valley of Achor unto this day. The valley of Achor was a valley of cursing. It was a valley of judgment. It was a valley of God's displeasure. It was a valley of death. It was a valley of stoning. And it was a valley where they burned their bones.

How many see that? All right, I want you to turn to Isaiah, the 65th chapter. I'm going to read you one little verse, but it's one of my favorite verses in all the Bible.

And I'm going to end with this verse, and you're going to like it. Isaiah 65, 10. We just read they called it the valley of Achor where sin caused Israel to flee before their enemy, caused 36 men to die, then caused Achan and an entire family, sons, daughters, and everybody to be killed. Don't let me get near that valley of Achor. I want to stay as far from the valley of Achor as I can get.

Maybe. Verse 10, Isaiah 65. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks. And the valley of Achor, a place for the herds to lie down in for my people that have sought me.

Somebody ought to shout out there for me. Now you all know that Sharon is the name of a beautiful place in Israel. Sharon is the name of a beautiful place in Israel.

It's the place where the rose of Sharon blossomed and the lily of the valley. And God said through the prophet Isaiah, he was going to take the valley of cursing, where it was a reproach, where they were stoned and burned and where Israel lamented because they had lost the battle because of disobedience. But if you will seek the Lord, even God will forgive your disobedience. He will redeem that disobedience. He will turn those tears into pools of water and the valley of Achor instead of being a place where they burned a bunch of bones of a bunch of disobedient people. He will become a pastor, a place of rest for the flocks to lie down. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. My soul was broken and wounded and full of tears, but he bound up the broken heart. Hallelujah. And heals the broken in spirit. And God will take your valleys of Baka and make them valleys of Baraka. And God will take your valleys of Achor and make them the valley of Sharon.

Hallelujah. God will take all your tests and your trials and your low places and God will make them a place of victory and triumph. But the conditions are you've got to appear before God in Zion and for those who have sought me. He said, seek me while I may be found and call on me while I'm not here, while I'm here and near. If you seek the Lord, he said, I will surely be entreated of thee. If you seek the Lord, he said, I will surely answer thee and I'll bring you out of Baka and I'll bring you into Baraka and I'll bring you out of Achor and I'll bring you into Sharon and I'll bring you to a place of rest. He said, come unto me if you're weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest if you take my yoke upon you, my discipline upon you.

That's the condition. A yoke means discipline. It means you're not loosed and free to do your own thing, but you're loosed to be yoked to Jesus. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you shall, you shall find rest for your soul. Hallelujah. Oh, bless the God of Jacob. Bless the God of Jacob. Stand on your feet and bless the God of Jacob. Hallelujah.

Call on the name of the Lord and host for he's a mighty God. He's a mighty God. Hallelujah. He'll turn your morning into dancing. He'll turn your tears into triumph.

He'll lead you forth with singing and everlasting joy upon your head. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Yes, Lord. Why don't you take your burdens?

Why don't you take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there? Hallelujah. He told the people of Israel, he said, no longer will you be called forsaken, but you shall be called Beulah, a land inhabited, a land beautiful, a married wife. No longer will you be put aside and put away from me. No longer will you be as a divorced woman, but you will come back to me and you will be Beulah and I will be your bridegroom and I will be your God. For I have loved you with an everlasting love, sayeth the Lord. And I have drawn you with my loving kindness. And there are people here this morning, God loves you with an everlasting love and he has knocked at your heart again and again.

And he's knocking today. Maybe you've never come to the Lord. Maybe you're far from him. Maybe you're in a low place and you just have felt forsaken and the devil has preached that to you, that old same old lie. He's only got one song.

He's only got one song, a lot of different courses, but one song. How many say amen? But if you know that today, the Lord said, I can take that valley of Vaca. I can take your tears.

Yes, I can take your fall downs, your mess ups, all the times you messed up and you're ashamed and you feel bad and you feel rejected. Just give it to me and I can redeem it, sayeth the Lord. I am a God of redemption. I'm a God who cares. I will strive along for you and with you, sayeth the Lord. Amen.

You say, but you just don't know. I've messed up so much. I listen. You're here this morning. God's grace is here speaking to your heart because he loves you. And if you don't know the Lord this morning, you can know him. And if you're far from God this morning, you can come home. And if you've been a little leaning cold in your soul and you had not been coming to the house of God, you've got let other things become priorities.

Don't do that. Don't wait till you get knocked down. Don't wait to some trouble comes knocking on your door and then have to try to get a hold of the Lord. If you continue in the house of the Lord, you'll go from strength to strength to strength to strength. The Lord wants to strengthen you this morning. The Lord wants to strengthen your heart this morning. He wants to heal your heart. He wants to heal your body. He wants to heal your home.

He wants to heal your marriage. God wants to deliver you this morning. Amen. Would you lift your hands to the Lord? Father, we ask your blessings upon the people of God. I ask you Lord right now that you would give peace to your people.

I want Lord for you to reach out and touch that one that you're drawn to yourself. If you, if you are not saved this morning, I want everyone to just stay in an attitude of prayer. If you're not saved this morning and you want to come to the Lord, if you're away from God and you want to come back to him, I want you to come up here right now.

Right now while the Spirit of God is moving. Come forth right now. Don't wait.

Don't wait. Come on now while the Lord is moving on your heart. Just come right up here whoever you are, wherever you are. Get up here right now. Right now come. If you're backslidden, if you're cold in your heart, if you've gotten away from the Lord, if you know you're not where you ought to be, get up here right now.

Come on right now. The Lord is saying I am drawing you in my loving kindness. I am drawing you this morning. Let the Lord draw you this morning. Amen. And if you've got a burden that you feel like you just have been too weak to carry, then God didn't, either God didn't put the burden on you or you're not getting strength from the Lord.

Cause he said I will never put more on you than you're able to bear. God wants to strengthen you this morning. Do you need a little bit more grace?

Come on up here right now. Right now while the Spirit of God is moving, don't you thank the Lord for these that came up. Let's give the Lord a clap often. Father, hallelujah. I don't care where you've been or how low you feel like you've been. You're here because God loves you. Jesus loves you. Oh he can redeem all the failures, all the bad stuff, all the junk. Just give it to the Lord. He can redeem it.

Oh yes he can. You can't change the past. I can't change my past. None of us can change the past. The past is the past.

Leave it there. Yesterday ended last night at midnight. Today the Lord says I am drawing you. I will bless you. I will lift you up.

I will give you everything that you need. If you need a mother, if you need a father, if you need a husband, if you need a wife, if you need a friend, Jesus said that's what I'll be to you. Are you ready to receive the Lord now? Alright, bow your head and close your eyes and repeat this prayer after me. Say Father God, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I bring you my sins and my failures. I bring you my burdens and my cares and I thank you for taking them from me and bearing them to your cross and covering them with your blood. I ask you to forgive me now of all my sins and all my failures.

Wash them in your blood. Cleanse me now. I confess you as my Lord and I receive you as my Savior and by your grace I will serve you all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In Jesus name I pray. Father, right now I ask you to bless me.

Amen. What an uplifting word from the Lord from Baca to Baraka. If you've ever experienced an extended time in the valley of tears, you know how painful it can be, but our tears are precious to God.

Actually, David, the beloved Psalmist prayed in Psalm 56, put my tears in your tear bottle and we learn in the book of Revelation that the prayers and tears of the saints are gathered into bowls before God's throne as sweet incense. The valley of Baca was one of Israel's lowest points where they lifted up their voice as one to cry and lament over the judgment their disobedience had brought on the nation. It became known as the valley of bokeem or tears, but centuries later, the writer of Psalm 84 shared that those who appear before God at his altars in the house of God go from strength to strength and when they pass through the valley of Baca, the valley of tears, they make it into a well where the rain fills the pools. It becomes a valley of blessings.

They turn their tears into triumph. Another valley of testing for Israel was the valley of Achor where sin in the camp committed by Achan caused them to lose a battle and it became known then as the valley of Achor of cursings and reproach where Achan and his family died and their bones were burned. But centuries later, Isaiah called that very same valley Sharon, a place where the flocks and God's people who sought him lay down and rest. Would you like to rest in the fields of Sharon, to go from strength to strength, to turn your tears into triumph and into rainbows for your soul? The key is to appear in God's house and make your delight and place of safety at his altars just as the sparrow builds a nest for her young so God's altars are the place of blessing for his people.

God never wastes our pain and he will redeem our tears when we seek his presence in his house for one day in God's house is better than a thousand elsewhere. To order from Baca to Baraka, send a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland 21203. Request SK 102 or order online at RGHardy.org where it's also available on MP3. But to order SK 102 from Baca to Baraka by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O.

Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland 21203. If the Lord directs you, please consider sending a larger gift towards the expenses of this station. Thank you and God bless you.

Until next time, this is Sharon Notzeng, Maranatha. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.