How do you face your enemy

How do you face your enemy? 

Do you face your enemy in anger, in fear, with boldness, with peace, with confusion, with intimidation? 

Let’s look at the shepherd, David, and his method of facing his enemy. Yes, this is the same David who eventually became the most beloved king of Israel.

But as a teenager, he faced a fierce enemy.

It all began one day when his father, Jesse, sent him to take food and check on his older brothers who were camped with the Hebrew army preparing to war with the Philistines, their greatest enemy.

As David approached the battlefield, he didn’t hear a battle going on, but instead heard a man shouting with a harsh, angry voice. The man was from the enemy ranks—a giant of a man. Not just extremely tall, he was muscular, fierce, violent looking, and wore rugged, heavy armor. His name was Goliath.  

Goliath had challenged the Jews, demanding they send a warrior to fight against him. The representative who won this two-man battle would bring victory for their own army on that day. Among the ranks of the Hebrews, all trembled with fear. No one would volunteer to fight Goliath.

As he reached his brothers, David heard Goliath again shout to the Israelites, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together” (1 Samuel 17:10).

When David realized what was taking place, anger rose up in him, to think that such a man was taunting the army of his God. After a bit of exchange with his brothers, David proclaimed: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? (1 Samuel 17:26b)”

 

David then went to King Saul and volunteered to fight Goliath. The king questioned David’s ability to step into such a battle.

But David confidently told the king, “’Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 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.’ Moreover David said, ‘The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine’” (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

David went out to battle the giant, Goliath. His trustworthy God gave him victory over this ominous enemy.

David had a history with God. God had helped him win over many other enemies before Goliath.

Do you have a history with God, your Creator? That is, do you have a relationship with Him and do you know how big and how capable He is? We establish a relationship with our Creator God through His Son, Jesus.

For those of us who have that relationship, let’s build our history with Him  by getting to know Him better through prayer and Bible study.

If you do not have a relationship with God, through Jesus, I invite you to do so right now, right here. Confess that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and ask Him to come into your heart. Get to know Him through reading the Bible.

What is your enemy today? Is it sickness, relationship issues, financial burdens, concerns for family members? −just naming a few possibilities.

Look that situation in the face and say, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the servant (me) of the living God? The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine (or whatever my situation)!”

Let’s confidently face our enemies as David faced Goliath, knowing our God is well able to work things out for our good.

Thank you for reading this post. I pray you will face your Goliath with confidence in the living God.

©Connie Wohlford 2016

Can you trust your Bible?

“Risikili” – Part 4 – Can you trust your Bible?

We continue with RiSiKiLi−

                       You know-- Read it, study it, know it, live it.

 

 

 

In my last post we looked at ways to know God’s plan and the importance of verifying that the plan lines up with God’s written word, the Bible. Now let’s look at some reasons why we can trust the Word of God. 

I appreciate the words of Bible scholar and pastor Jack Hayford, extolling the truth and value of the Scriptures. He said: 

 

“God’s Word has been unscrolled in both the Scriptures and in His incarnate Son− Jesus Christ. Jesus, in describing the importance of the eternal Scriptures said, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ (Matt. 4:4). He also commended the steadfast inquiry into the Word of God: ‘Search the Scriptures … they … testify of Me.’ There is no such thing as health or growth in Christian living apart from a clear priority on the place of the Bible in the life of the individual or the group.  

 

Psalm 119:9-10

 The Scriptures are the conclusive standard for our faith, morals, and practical living and are the nourishment for our rising to strength in faith, holiness in living, and effectiveness in service. The Holy Spirit who comes to fill us is the same Person who has given us the Book to guide and sustain us. The writer of this study has demonstrated the balance the Bible brings to living in his life, in his teaching ministry, and in his leadership.”*

 

Here are the first five of fourteen attributes of the Bible, given by Pastor Hayford:

 

“THE SOURCE AND NATURE OF GOD’S WORD”

1.  The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

The Bible is ‘God-breathed’ and the words planned by God’s creative design.*

2 Tim. 3:16 > “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”

 

2.  The Complete Trustworthiness of the Bible   

The Word of God is ‘perfect’ in its accuracy and ‘sure’ in its dependability.* Ps. 19:7 > “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;”

3.  The Content of God’s Word is Complete  

The Bible is complete, completely trustworthy, and sufficient to completely answer anything we need to know about eternal salvation or practical wisdom concerning relationships, morality, character, and conduct.*

Prov. 30:5-6 > “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. ⁶ Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”

4.  Jesus and the Holy Scriptures

Jesus confirms that every word of Scripture is given by God, every truth is to be held inviolable, that the Scriptures are indissoluble and credible.*

Luke 16:17 > And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.

 

 

 

 

5.  The Way God’s Word Is to Be

The Word of God is to be ministered literally and life-givingly in the Spirit of Truth and Spirit of Life.*

2 Cor. 3:5-8 > “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, ⁶ who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. ⁷ But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?”

 

So according to Pastor Hayford, God’s Word is divinely inspired, totally trustworthy, complete, confirmed by Jesus Himself, and is to be ministered literally. Let’s meditate on these truths and their accompanying passages. 

 

Thank you for reading this post. I hope it strengthens your own admiration and love for the Word of God. In my next post I plan to give the rest of Pastor Hayford’s fourteen Bible adulations.

 

I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Psalm 119:16

*Spirit Filled Life Bible, Kingdom Dynamics, Thomas Nelson, Page xii