Go In The Strength of Christ

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King James Bible StudyAnd when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Chapters: I Samuel 17-18
Message: Go In The Strength of Christ

Hello My Friend,

I have been putting together a sister site to, I’m Following Jesus, that God so graciously put upon my heart, which is just devoted to the King James Bible. I am starting with the reading schedule and it will have the entire Bible on it. I took some time away from it and reorganized my desk, it has a glass top that drives me crazy with the smudges. I have tried different clothes over it, but everything slides, I finally came up with the idea to use shelf liner, praise God, and as I was setting everything up, tears came to my eyes. I did not need this stuff, but God wanted to make me happy, so, He pleased me to be able to get it. And now, this song has been playing through my head, [I come to the garden alone. While the dew is still on roses. And the voice I hear falling, On my ear, the son of God discloses. And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share, as we tarry there, None other has ever known.]

What a great feeling to serve Christ, and what a greater feeling to know that not only are my needs met, so are my desires. While did absolutely nothing to deserve any kind of happiness in my life, it pleases God to take care of me, all the way down to some shelf liner, [Luke 12:28-32  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?  29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.  30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.  31  But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.  32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.]

I decided to start today’s reading with a passage from yesterday’s reading, one thing that we do not expect when we come to Christ and He starts blessing and using us is the fact that He sort of throws us into the lions den in order to prepare us for it. It does not matter if we work in or out of His ministry, He needs to prepare us for the task, and what better way to do that than to place us right in the line of fire. After David was anointed as the next king by God, it was not going to take place instantly, God was going to prepare Him for it. And in order to do that, God placed right in the palace working for Saul. [1 Samuel 16:21-23  And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.  22  And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.  23  And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.]

[and the evil spirit departed from him.] We know that the evil spirit is Satan, and whenever Saul felt agitated David would play the harp and calm him down, and Saul came to love David. All that was about to change when the Philistines decided to challenge Israel. They sent their mightiest soldier, a man named Goliath, who stood nine feet tall. [1 Samuel 17:3-4,8-9  And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.  4  And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 8  And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.  9  If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.]

[If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me,] Now, here was the challenge, Goliath was so confident in his strength that if anyone could kill him then Philistines would become servants to Israel. Every morning for forty days, Goliath would give them the same challenge, and they all just stood there waiting for someone to make a move. Now, when David was not serving the king, he went home to his father’s house to care for the sheep. His father sends David with some food for the soldiers. When David heard Goliath’s challenge he encourages them to go for it because God was on their side, but none of them had the courage to take him on, even his brothers.

[1 Samuel 17:17,20,26,28  And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; 20  And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 26  And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 28  And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.]

[and left the sheep with a keeper,] Although David had a great job serving the king, he still had a responsibility a home, and made sure that his sheep were well cared for until he returned for them. You know, God’s people are referred to as His sheep, Jesus is our Shepherd, since He is in heaven right now, He uses under shepherds to care for His sheep. Under shepherds are pastors on His Church, but He often uses other God fearing people to care for His sheep outside of the church walls. Nevertheless, if we are going to minister to the people we need to make sure we are giving them the right care because we will be held accountable for giving out any false information, [Jeremiah 23:32-34  Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.  33  And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.  34  And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.]

Now, when Saul heard that David was at the battlefield he sent for him, he basically told him to stay out of it, and stop encouraging them, but David decided that since no one would step up that he would. [1 Samuel 17:32-37  And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.  33  And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.  34  And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:  35  And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.  36  Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.  37  David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.]

[he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.] David was not going to lie and say that he had great strength to fight Goliath, he knew that if he stood before him in his own strength that he would die. He was trusting the strength of God to not only endure the battle, but win it. I swear, we need some people like this today, God fearing servants of God willing to step up and fight these Goliath’s that are taking away our freedoms left and right. And here is the thing, David was so confident that God would be there with him that all he took with him was his shepherds staff, a sling shot, and five stones that he picked up out of the book.

[1 Samuel 17:40-41,43,45-46,49  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.  41  And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.  43  And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 45  Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.  46  This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 49  And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.]

[and he fell upon his face to the earth.] Whenever I read the story about David and Goliath I picture the Veggie Tales version, this giant pickle falling to the ground. Never forget, when God tries us, it is not destroy us, rather to empower us to do all things through Christ, [Philippians 4:12-13  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.]

Saul could not believe it, this kid took on Goliath, and not only defeated him, but cut his head off too. [1 Samuel 17:53-58  And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.  54  And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.  55  And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.  56  And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.  57  And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.  58  And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.]

[whose son is this youth?] Does this sound familiar? This is what the people of Nazareth said when they saw Jesus, [Luke 4:22,24  And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? 24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.]

Saul’s son, Jonathan, was at the battle too, after all that came to pass, he instantly bonded with David, and even made a covenant with him. [1 Samuel 18:1-5  And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.  2  And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house.  3  Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.  4  And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.  5  And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.]

[And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him,] Right there, Jonathan knew that David would be the next king, he never even thought that David was taking the throne from him as he would have been the next king if Saul had not messed things up. News got around quickly of their victory and David, the whole town gathered to celebrate their victory, but not everyone was happy about it, when the women started shouting that David killed ten thousands and Saul only killed thousands he got extremely jealous.

[1 Samuel 18:7-12,14-15  And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.  8  And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?  9  And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.  10  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.  11  And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.  12  And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.  14  And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.  15  Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.]

[he was afraid of him.] Saul knew that God was with David and that scared him to death. God does not put fear in us, the devil does that, he can put so much fear in into people that they become bullies. And did you ever wonder why the bullies are so ruthless? Fear. They want what we have, but rarely are they willing to step up and do what is necessary to get the things they desire the right way. If Saul would have just repented, God would have forgiven him, but he was too proud to do that, [James 1:12-14  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.  13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:  14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [1 Samuel 18:4  And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You, for saving a sinner like me when I put my faith and trust in Your Son as my Saviour. While I will never understand why You chose me to work in Your ministry and for the work You have given me, I do understand that it can only be done in Your strength. I can do nothing in my own strength, but I can do all things in Yours, especially the tasks that You have chosen for me. It seems like Your faithful are being persecuted more than ever from those who are jealous at Your blessing our lives. Lord, give us Your power to keep living by faith and not run in fear of those who are jealous of us. Give us Your strength to stand up for our faith, and never be afraid to stand up to these bullies. Give us the wisdom, guidance, and love that only You can give us to endure these battles, fully trusting that we will never be defeated. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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