First, I will be on vacation with my family next week. Rest is spiritual. Rest is needed as a believer, especially when you are committed to walking with God for the long run. While I am gone, I ask you to please visit our website, YouTube channel or download the podcast. I have thousands of messages online that I believe will bless you. Here are links to each:
Website: http://todaysword.org/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/rickpina
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/todays-word-with-rick-pina/id473506671
Second, I just received this testimony from someone I have been ministering to you for years. It blessed me. I felt led to share it with you.
“Rick: Praise God. I wanted to share the good news with you that I have finally surrendered myself and no longer serve two masters. The holy spirit now leads me as a lampshade at my feet. God is also using our daughter, the light of our life, to guide us to follow the Golden Rule. I am back on track for God’s purpose in my life. I feel so unworthy yet grateful, relaxed, and filled with boundless energy.”
At the end of the day, ministry is about reaching people with the love and power of God. I have been preaching the Gospel and operating in what we would call “ministry” for 23 years. I never get tired of hearing testimonies like this. It is very humbling to know that God would use me as a conduit of His love and light to others. May you, too, be touched by God through this ministry.
Now, let’s get into the Word.
(1 Samuel 17:1-11)
Today I will continue with “Faith and Patience Volume 5 – Greater is Coming!” We are studying the life of David. David’s story is impressive and inspirational. I trust you are enjoying it thus far.
Today we cross over into 1 Samuel chapter 17. In this chapter, David’s story shifts its focus to Saul. The spirit of the Lord was no longer on Saul. He no longer had the grace of God for national leadership. God basically fired Saul, and he did not even know it. It was during this time when God’s favor had left Saul that the Philistines mustered their army for battle against Israel. The Philistine army camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. Saul countered by gathering his Israelite army near the valley of Elah. So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them. This is just like a scene from a movie.
Once the scene was set, a Philistine champion from Gath, named Goliath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face Israel’s forces. This man was a beast. He towered over most men. Goliath was over 9ft. tall. He wore armor that weighed 125 pounds. He carried a spear with a 15lb. head and his shield was so big that another man (his armor-bearer) had to walk with him to carry it.
Goliath stood in the valley and taunted the Israelites, saying, “Why are you all coming out to fight? I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. CHOOSE ONE MAN to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then WE will be your slaves. But if I kill him, YOU will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” When Saul and the Israelites heard this, instead of having confidence in God, the same God who had already seen them through countless battles, the Bible says, “They were terrified and deeply shaken.”
There was a time when Saul operated in faith, but this is a case when he was operating in fear. I have lots of teaching on fear on my website. As believers, we should resist fear at all costs. Fear is an incapacitating force that can stop the strongest person in their tracks. Faith is an expression of your confidence in God and His promises. Fear is the opposite. Fear is an expression of your confidence in satan and his threats.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things:
1. Satan will attempt to get you to play by his rules and to see things his way.
— No one said the Israelites had to accept Goliath’s one-on-one winner-takes-all rule, but Saul foolishly accepted what the enemy established. Don’t make the same mistake.
— You don’t have to accept what satan is saying. You don’t have to see things from his perspective. Satan will always frame the problem worse than what it actually is. Reject his characterization and choose to see things from God’s perspective.
— If you allow satan to set the conditions and frame the problem for you, your starting point is skewed. He will make your starting point always look like failure. Whereas, when you look at something from God’s perspective, you will always see VICTORY. In Christ, by grace, victory is not just your destination; it is your starting point. You actually START from a position of victory when you open your heart to the reality that God has already provided. Saul lost that perspective. Don’t make the same mistake. No matter how bad it looks right now, remember, GREATER IS COMING FOR YOU!
2. You cannot be in-fear and in-faith at the same time.
I have made this point countless times over the years. But it is worth repeating.
— Once Saul and his Soldiers were in-fear, they had NO confidence (or faith) in God.
— Don’t ever allow fear into your heart. Fear is an expression of confidence that something bad is going to happen.
— If you allow fear into your heart, and you are confident the worse will happen, your heart is no longer in faith. All your confidence in God is gone, and your heart is actually OPEN to satan’s desires.
— You should never fear, because Job learned, what you fear will come upon you!
— Fear cancels out faith, and faith cancels out fear. The choice is yours. You get to decide which one you will operate in. But choose wisely.
— 2020 may not be playing out the way you expected, but regardless of how things are right now, you must resist fear. Fear tolerated is faith contaminated. You must resist fear at all costs. Do not LET your heart be troubled. Do not ALLOW yourself to be afraid. God is still God, his promises are still valid, and GREATER IS COMING FOR YOU!
3. We have a real enemy who uses fear as his tool.
Just like God is real, satan is real as well, and fear is his greatest tool. If satan can get you to fear, he can get you to stop acting like God’s representative on the earth. This is why you must resist fear at all costs. John taught us how to resist fear in 1 John 4:18. He told us that “there is NO FEAR in love,” and that “perfect love casts out all fear.”
— When you meditate and medicate on God’s love, and you are convinced that God loves you unconditionally, you will quickly realize that you have nothing to fear.
— Remind yourself that God loves you, that He made plans for you before the world began, and that He is tirelessly dedicated to seeing those plans come to pass in your life. If you meditate on this truth long enough, you will feel notice how fear will dissipate in the presence of God’s love.
4. Our Enemy uses images.
Goliath’s sheer size struck fear in the Israelites. He was just a man. He was clearly not invincible. But he LOOKED invincible, and the enemy used this image to strike fear in the Israelites.
— Satan will attempt to make your situation seem worse than what it actually is. Because he knows that if you develop an image of failure, seeing yourself defeated, you defeat yourself before you ever get started.
— Images are powerful. Satan will attempt to cast images of failure upon the canvas of your mind. But if you meditate and medicate on God’s Word, you will see a different set of images. They will be God’s images of you. Mediate long enough, and you will see yourself the way God sees you, and you will believe what God believes about you. At this point, once God convinces you, the images satan presents will have no power over you.
5. God is bigger than any enemy.
Paul asked the question, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). The answer is anyone who wants to lose!
— As big and bad as Goliath thought he was, he wound up dead and decapitated. This is the fate of those who come up against God’s children.
— You must have more confidence (faith) in God’s ability than confidence (fear) in your enemy’s ability.
— God is bigger than COVID-19. He is bigger than the economic conditions right now. Your God is bigger than anything. Guess what? God lives IN you. He is ON you, IN you, WITH you, and FOR you! You have nothing to fear!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, my heart is OPEN to Your best. I expect You to do ALL You said You would do in my life. I know You shall be with me every step of my journey. Your presence brings me peace. Your presence and Your love give me confidence. I am so convinced that You are ON me, IN me, WITH me, and FOR me, that I will not allow fear to get a hold of my heart. Fear is not a factor for me. I overcome fear because I am rooted and grounded in Your love for me. Perfected love casts out all fear. I declare, NO FEAR HERE! Fear has no power over me. I am fully persuaded that what You have promised, You shall also perform before I die. This is why I say; GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
