Dealing with the Giant

"Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God."   v 36 of  1 Samuel 17 NKJV

The formidable sight of Goliath, this giant of a man, caused fear throughout Saul's army and not one of them, including the king, were willing to take him on as Goliath was requesting. That is, except David. He saw this man full of pride and intimidation and said the words of our text above.

Now, Goliath stood 9 feet 9 inches - 6 cubits and a span and his armour, a bronze helmet, coat of mail weighed a further 9 stone - 5 thousand shekels. Put this together with the bronze armour on his legs, and the bronze javelin between his shoulders, he was carrying some weight and yet, it didn't appear to bother him. In comparison, David was of short stature with hardly any weight on him at all, so Saul insisted David wear his armour but when he did, David could hardly move and decided to just wear his ordinary clothes for battle.

David took his staff and 5 smooth stones taken from a nearby brook, and his sling and set off to meet his opponent, Goliath or, champion as he was known within the Philistine army. He was known as this because, a champion is clearly  superior and has the attributes of a winner. Goliath certainly lived up to this label.

Now in natural terms, this was an unfair battle. There was no way that David could win this contest. However, David was not of the natural but, the supernatural and when God is on your side, giants fall. Goliath was full of pride, abusive, threatening, a bully and full of intimidation. David on the other hand was full of the Holy Spirit and God had put a fighter within him. Goliath may have had his armour on from his head to his feet, but, when David slung just one of his stones, it got through all of this and hit him on the forehead knocking him over. David rushed up and finished the kill.

There is a lesson here, your level of fear can reveal your closeness to God. The more you are afraid, the further you are from God. The less fearful you are, the closer you are to Him; and like I said, when God is on your side, you are a winner. It doesn't matter what the opposition is or has, you will win. From a human perspective, Goliath looked like a giant, too big and powerful to defeat; but from David's Godly perspective, Goliath looked like a target too big to miss.

'Whatever giants you face right now, take a moment to look higher and see that they are dwarfed by the God who cares for you and loves you.'   Warren W. Wiersbe

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You get what you confess

"For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me."                                                                               Job 3:25  NKJV

If we're not careful, we can speak or think ourselves into something that we don't wish to happen. Job had become like this. This is why he said this in the verse above. One can actually get what they confess. To give an example, how many times do we hear someone say, 'I feel awful, I think I'm coming down with the flu.' And then, not long after this, they have the flu. We need to be careful when we say things like, 'My back's killing me'. We may have a bad back but to confess it, is not faith, and it's definitely not the right thing to confess that it is killing you. Some people may say that this is splitting hairs. To them, it may be, but Job soon saw the horror of what he had been saying and thinking.

When we speak and think in such a way we are going down the road of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy as described below: 

'A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's or group of persons' belief or expectation that said prediction would come true.^[1] This suggests that people's beliefs influence their actions. The principle behind this phenomenon is that people create consequences regarding people or events, based on previous knowledge of the subject.'     (Wikipedia) 

We need to be so careful about what we think and say.

Self-Fulled Prophecy can happen in your mind or in reality. Let me explain - to believe something is happening when we have no evidence about it, is suspicion. However, it can become worse when it is all we think of and get ourselves into such a state of worry, where it is no longer suspicion, but fact. We believe it is true, and as time goes by it may well be, because we go looking for it and refuse any other explanation.

People can say, 'I can't go to Uni, I'd never make the grades and I would only make a fool of myself." If you believe that way, you probably would. It's natural to believe that we are not sure if we can do something but, that doesn't mean we should give up on the idea. When David faced Goliath, if he had started to believe that he couldn't slay him and would probably die, then he would not have had the victory. As soon as Goliath's taunts came to his ears, if he had believed them, he would have either ran away like the other Israelites, or he would have been killed. But he believed in God and confessed this: 'I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head from you.'  1 Samuel 17:45-46.

If David had confessed fear and doubt, he would have been killed. But he didn't, he confessed victory. He refused to confess fear or doubt. And so should you.

You are a member of God's Army. Stand tall in this fact and never again confess doubt. You need to confess victory in all you do. This leads to faith.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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Live in Peace (3)

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."       John 14:27  NKJV

Continuing with our small series on peace, let us look at this verse. Jesus has left His peace with us. He knows that the world's peace is fragile and counterfeit at many times. His peace is eternal and helps us to cope with whatever we may face. If you remember from yesterday, the disciples were panicking because their boat was in a storm. However, Jesus was asleep, quite comfortable and not troubled at all. When the disciples woke Him up, he calmed the storm by addressing the peace of the world and it had to obey. Therefore, this confirms what he says in the above verse.

We are not to be troubled in our heart. If Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, then He is our peace as well but we need to receive it and live in it, refusing to allow the troubles of the world to hurt or torment us. Be careful though; Jesus doesn't promise the absence of storms in our lives because, they will come from time to time. What He does promise is, His peace in the midst of the storm, which is all we need - 'and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus' Philippians 4:7. Then, we must take note of Colossians 3:15, 'And let the peace of God rule in your hearts.' Don't miss the key part of this verse - the word 'Let'.  We can also see this in our text for today 'Let not' Paul and Jesus are telling us here, to make sure that we allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts and to avoid the risks that the troubles of the world bring when they invade our minds and trip us up.

At the end of the day, it is down to us. We know the rules and must must abide by them. Jesus has made it possible that we can live our lives in His peace and have the strength to not take on the troubles of the world. Oh they will attack, of course they will. They will try and take over our daily life. It's the same for everyone of us. However, we have the choice to live our lives in the peace of God, the way He intended it to be.

At this time, if you are troubled by worldly matters and feel that you have no peace in your life, can I encourage you to say this prayer with me:

'Lord Jesus, You have given us Your peace and encourage us to avoid the troubles of the world. However, I need help with this:..................................................................

It is draining me Lord but, as I surrender this to You right now, please give me the strength to take Your Word to my heart and live life as You want me to. I believe You Lord, I just need You to help me to believe even more.

In Jesus' name, Amen.'

Now receive this peace and live your life accordingly.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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Live in Peace (2)

"But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow"                     Mark 4:38   NKJV 

Yesterday we saw David being pressured by his many enemies but, instead of fighting, he gave the problem to God and lay down to sleep. Today, we see the disciples in a boat during a storm, frightened that they were going to perish. But where was Jesus? He was in the stern sleeping blissfully on a pillow. There are similarities here. David, after giving his problems to God went to sleep, Jesus, who was always at peace lay down and also went to sleep. This was a test for the disciples. Jesus knew that they would hit a storm but He wanted to see how they handled it. In a nutshell, not very well.

"Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' Jesus, got up, rebuked the wind and told the sea to be at peace; and there was a great calm. But He said to them, 'Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? 

These guys should have known better; after all they had been with Jesus sometime and had seen all that He did. Yet, they failed to exercise their faith. Now watch this, Jesus had said to them at the start of their journey, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' Jesus intended to get there or He wouldn't have said this. Yet, they failed to hear properly. When things are going really well, for many, it is easy to be joyful and full of praise and faith. However, when things go wrong, many are unprepared and instead of using the faith that Jesus has taught them, they fall apart in fear. This is what happened here and Jesus had to gently rebuke them.

Jesus can be relied on; He is our shield of faith and when we commit things into His hands He is faithful and will take us through whatever we face. He will provide a way. However, don't forget that His timing is far different to ours. He knows what He is doing and we have to trust Him. Did you get that? We have to trust Him - fully. 

Are you in a situation where it is rather like you are in a boat when a storm hits? It can be quite scary and unnerving. However, if you are walking in God, and have committed your day to Him, then you are in His will and He will be with you. Be at peace. He may have called you to speak somewhere such as church or a home group and you are shaking with fear, or there may be something else that's bothering you. Remember, if He has asked you to do something, He is right behind you and, will guide you through. The problem comes when you are doing something that He never intended you to do at all. However, if you call on Him, He will still rescue you but there may be pieces to pick up afterwards.

Alternatively, you may be in a storm that is just one of those storms that come our way and we have no power over. It may be sickness or it may be some other situation. The word for you is 'PEACE, BE STILL'. In other words, Live in Peace. When you call on Jesus, He will always answer you and take you over to the other side.

More tomorrow!

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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Live in Peace. (1)

"I lay down and slept"                                                   Psalm 3:5   NKJV

David's son, Absalom, was causing him so much stress that he had to flee. Absalom was so much younger, whereas, David was by now much older. It was a bleak situation but, one in which David expressed his confidence in God. He knew that he would give Him deliverance. Under the circumstances, it was a wise decision. As King he still had people to look after and so, felt the only answer was to give this all to God. He focused more and more on God and as he called on Him and not so much his enemies, he thought about the Temple that would be built in Jerusalem, the place God had His Holy hill.

From time to time, we also can feel like everyone is against us. This may be our imagination or it may be reality. David knew what action to take and, so should we. He put the biggest part of his focus on the One who could rescue him from this situation. God heard him and restored his dignity and confidence. In fact God sustained him v5. Notice the all important statement also in v5, 'I lay down and slept.' Through God's intervention, David was so much at peace that he was able to get some well-earned sleep. And this is how God wants you to handle things.

Whatever stressful situation you are in, you need your sleep. You can't think straight when you're tired and the way to solve this is, to be so secure in Jesus that you can offer any problem to Him, leave it there and go to sleep. When God sustains you, He gives you peace, the peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:6-7). When David did this, he placed God in charge of everything because he knew that he could not resolve it. And He will for you as well.

Problems can escalate driving us to despair. I remember reading of a South African pastor who was trying to sort out the church's financial situation. They were in debt and the bills kept piling up. This pastor knew that he was in God's will and also knew that he could not sort these finances out. Therefore, after an evening service when everyone had gone home, he prayed, 'Lord, I can't change this situation. I have done all You asked of me but, there has been no change. Therefore Lord, the problem is Yours, I'm going home.' And he did. Within a very short time, God caused the debts to be paid off and the church was financially secure again. This is similar to what David did this day, 'I lay down and slept'. This is the peace of God.

Do you need this peace, then surrender everything to Jesus, and I do mean everything. Refuse to think or worry about it any longer and lay down and sleep. Then watch how God works!

Tomorrow, we will look at this in more detail and bring it all together. Until then, you know what to do!

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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The Refining Process

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour and glory the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love." 

                                                                                             1 Peter 1:6-8  NKJV

We can be sailing along peacefully with very few cares in the world when, suddenly a change comes along and the going begins to get tough. It happens to us all in certain degrees and at various times. Possibly for Christians, it can be harder because it is easy to believe that Jesus would never allow us to go through painful situations. Sadly, this is wrong. Things happen to us and we are left reeling and sometimes we are begging for a way through the situation.

God never tempts us, only the devil does this. However, God will allow trials to come upon us to test us and assess how we handle various things. He will monitor this testing however and never allow us to be overwhelmed by it all. Tony Evans comments on this:

'All trials are designed to do three things: Prove your faith, develop your faith and glorify your Saviour. You never know what you believe until you face a test. Our heavenly goldsmith wants to refine your character.'  Tony Evans Study Bible

The gold refining process God uses can be a difficult road to walk on. It takes resilience and determination to make it through these testing times. But, our comfort is to realise that Jesus is right by our side as we go through this refining process which in technical terms can be described as:

'An exciting process called refining, it is re-liquified in a furnace and then heaped with generous amounts of soda ash and borax. This effectively separates the gold from impurities and other metal traces.'  Source unknown

God uses tests or trials to develop us spiritually. A trial can be described as a divinely ordained difficulty that God uses to grow us, conforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. It is never easy but, it is manageable as we allow God to walk us through the process, which He is willing to do so. If you are in the middle of a trial at this time, keep standing, keep trusting and keep believing that God will pull you through it. Tests are only for a time but once through them, you have learned to be closer to God.

The thing is, don't give up believing that you can do this because, you can. When you place God in the driving seat, you find He is a skilful driver, but be careful, the devil will also want to drive and he is on the road to disaster. In your weakness at the time of the trial, don't allow the devil to get in. Just keep trusting in God.

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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The Three 'D's"

"If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." v28             Mark 5:25-34   NKJV 

This well-known piece of scripture, shows us the love and compassion that Jesus carries for His people. This woman had a severe illness, a severe financial lack and according to Leviticus 15:25-27, was ceremonially unclean. She was suffering the three 'D's': DEFILED - DESTITUTE and DESPERATE.

If you have ever suffered just one of these categories, you will know the anguish she was going through. She had almost lost hope because, she had suffered 12 years with a terrible issue of blood and, because of this, she had exhausted all of her finance paying for doctors to try and bring healing to her body. She had spent all she had and now, the pot was empty and she felt even worse.

She had heard about Jesus and all that He was doing and made up her mind that she had to go to Him, there was nothing left but, she had to take the chance of going out into public knowing that she was unclean. Battling through the crowds she saw Him but, because of her low self-esteem, she couldn't speak with Him - what if he told her to go away, or wanted money for healing her? What if He rebuked her for being out in public? She was frightened and went up behind Him and touched His gown. Immediately, she was healed, she knew this without doubt. The thing is, Jesus knew as well because he felt power go out of His body. 'Who touched Me?' Jesus asked. Jesus knew who had touched Him but, wanted her to speak to Him and admit this. 

Frightened and shaking like a leaf, she bent down before Jesus and confessed that she had touched His gown. Jesus looked at her with love and said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affection.'  What had  happened here? She fell down before Him and confessed and for this, she was rewarded. He built her up with confidence, making her feel a human being again. He took her fear and gave her peace in return. She knew that she would never be the same again. She was a new woman. Jesus took the feeling of being DEFILED, DESTITUTE and DESPERATE, and gave her a new 'D', He gave her DIGNITY. He gave this terribly beaten up woman His love and made her dignified. 

And He will do this for you as well if you ask Him. He knows where you've been; the life you have put up with. The disappointments, the let-downs and the feeling of being left out - the Billy no-mates of your area. Why not go up to Him, fall down before Him and allow Him to heal every inch of your physical and emotional hurt. 

His arms are open now, ready for you. Go on, what are you waiting for?

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                

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