From Valley to Victory

• Message Notes

  Psalm 23:1-6
  1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

  Learning to Walk in Christ’s Victory it is necessary to Walk through Life’s Valleys

  Psalm 23:4
  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…

  Even though I walk through the valley I have to stay focused on Christ victory.

  Psalm 23:3b
  He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

  Understanding the Nature and Character of God as a Shepherd allows me to walk confidently and in total dependency because I know His Name is riding on it.

  Are you walking like you have the victory or are you walking like you’re a victim of the valley?

  Walk: to go, depart, proceed and move

  Metaphor: We Die - We Live - We Experience Abundant Life

  Isaiah 43:2
  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

  2. Life’s darkest valleys will lead us to life’s greatest victories

  Psalm 23:4
  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…

  Personal Victory more often times than not, are preceded by Dark Valleys

  "Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys." - Billy Graham

  Psalm 65:11 You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.

  Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

  Shadows: a "shadow" of something else often conveys the idea of similarity, influence, or partial resemblance, while also implying a degree of impermanence, incompleteness, or inferiority compared to the original.

  Deuteronomy 9:21 (Moses)
  Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.

  1 Kings 15:11-13 NIV (King Asa)
  11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. 12 He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made. 13 He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

  2 Kings 23:4, 6, 12 NIV (King Josiah)
  4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. - NIV6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.

  2 Chronicles 29:16 NIV
  (King Hezekiah) 
  The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.

  Jeremiah 31:31, 33, 40 NIV
  (Coming King’s Covenant) 
  31“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
  33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God…40 - The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

  John 18:1 NIV (King Jesus) 
  When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

  Romans 16:20 
  The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

  3. Don’t Allow the Shadows of the Valley to Shake You, Allow the Shepherd in the Valley to Shape You

  Psalm 23:4 
  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.