I am come… Overcoming Goliaths

Jesus said…

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Jn 10:10

Life  – it can be beautiful, filled with joy, contentment and peace or it can be filled with anger, regrets, abuse and horror.

Every life has good things, bad things, awful things and incredible things, some things we have control over, and some things we don’t … learning to cope and manage things like good stress or negative stress  challenges can be difficult at times but it can be done.

Jesus knew the real life battle we would all be facing and he gave us tools to cope and not just cope but tools to give us great victory and joy in the midst of the battle.

I want to focus today on how to identify, face, execute and overcome severe challenges in life.

Facing the Giant…

How does my Giant affect me:

a. Spiritually

b. Emotionally

c. Physically

d. Financially

Goliath’s Challenge

1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the men of Israel assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, arraying themselves for battle against the Philistines.

3 The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them.

4 Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height, 5 and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels, 6 and he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.

8 And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. 9If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and work for us.”

10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”

11 On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid.

David Accepts the Challenge

12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons. And in the days of Saul, Jesse was old and well along in years.d 13 The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. 14 And David was the youngest.

The three oldest had followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.

16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.

17 One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted graine and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

20 So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other.

22 Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing. 23 And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the ranks of the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard.

24 When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him in great fear.

25 Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.”

26 David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

27 The people told him about the offer, saying, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

28 Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”

29 “What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?” 30 Then he turned from him toward another and asked about the offer, and those people answered him just as the first ones had answered.

31 Now David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.

32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him!”

33 But Saul replied, “You cannot go out against this Philistine to fight him. You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

37 David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

“Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.”

David Slays Goliath

38 Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor. 39 David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them.

“I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off. 40 And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.

41 Now the Philistine came closer and closer to David, with his shield-bearer before him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome. 43“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51 David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him, and he cut off his head with the sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

53 When the Israelites returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

55 As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?”

“As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.”

56“Find out whose son this young man is!” said the king.

57 So when David returned from killing the Philistine, still holding his head in his hand, Abner took him and brought him before Saul.

58 “Whose son are you, young man?” asked Saul.

“I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.

The battle starts with the  identifying the threat – in Davis’s case it was a warrior from Gath, he was big, he was brazen and he was demoralising the troops, using fear, and intimidation tactics.

This was to be David’s battle – no person was going to help or get him out of this, he had been in training for this all his life, and it was the time for his greatest victory.

David had just one partner in this battle – The Lord God Almighty.

There are times in our own lives when we will face Goliath and we can either face it and accept it like David with confidence, truth and building on past victories the Lord has given to us, or run and hide, procrastinating and becoming demoralized like the Israelites.

The Choice is Ours

To properly over come the Goliaths  in our life we need to do a few things.

Rightly identifying the threat – managing the fear takes away our ability to see the threat as something we can not overcome.

Fear can be a rational, healthy fear or an irrational fear.

A healthy fear can make us evaluate the danger, think through the issue and come to a plan of action, to overcome the issue.

As irrational fear is placed by Satan and when we agree with  the fear or lie, Satan takes us captive, this can lead to procrastination, expecting others to rescue us, and blinds to facing the problem and leave us defenceless and emotionally drained and can even produce physical symptoms and illness. It can make us take unnecessary financial risks and lead to poverty and self- destruction.

So ask yourself these questions:

1. What is the real issue or thing I must overcome? Name the problem out loud and truly identify it.

2. What is this doing to me spiritually? Am I blaming God, or angry at God always asking questions like  why or how or what? Using up valuable spiritual energy that could be spent elsewhere in worship, prayer and reading the Word, spiritual energy needed to build spiritual confidence to be an overcomer.

3. What is this doing to me emotionally – what lies am I believing and accepting from my own unwillingness to face the problem or from Satan himself?  Am I blaming myself, the  family, the Lord. Am I expecting a rescuer to ride in on a white horse to fix this for me, or am I thinking that if I ignore this long enough it will go away, or all I need is money? Am I always thinking about the issue, the person, the trouble,  has it become bigger  and bigger by always focussing on it. Are you feeling sorry for yourself and hiding from dealing with the problem, or expecting everyone else to help? Are you focusing on the pass offences, or future “pie in the sky ideas”- “winning the lottery”, “waiting for your ship to come in”, basically focusing on anything so as not focus on today and how to overcome the obstacle.

4. What is the real  truth? Not what is right or wrong but what is the honest truth. Face it …name the worst thing that can happen and face it. Is that the truth or is it a lie? Destroy all the lies wherever they come from, you-tube, dr. google, the media, family, friends, co-workers, yourself or Satan himself. Sugar coating the situation will not help. Go back over your God file and see if there are tools and previous victories, or prophecies that will help you now, focus on the Spiritual victories, emotional victories, physical victories and even financial victories in your life.

5. What is this doing to me physically? Take the responsibility, move! Sitting and stewing will destroy you. Begin to over come the problem, identify the lies and get rid of them. Create a plan based on what you need to do. How do you eat the elephant? Be realistic, don’t expect anyone else to do it for you, don’t expect anyone to rescue you, not family, not the government, not the church, not the banks, this is your battle, and with the help of the Lord you will gain the victory.  Look after your temple to remain in a place of health and confidence. There is only one partner in your battle – it is the Lord Jesus Christ, he has been preparing you for this all your life for this  and he has the confidence in you  that you will over come and be victorious. Eat right, get your oxygen – exercise, sleep and drink your water look after your temple in a battle.

6. What does the victory look like, or what is the real risk ?  Even victory will involve a reality check, what am I willing to lose, what am I willing to let go of, what “toy” is Satan telling me I can’t possibly live without. The truth is the only thing you can’t live without is Christ- houses, lands, things , bank accounts all may come and go, but in the end you can’t take it with you when you go, family may disappoint and even reject you, the church may close, and the government fail but Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. He needs to be your everything not just your add on. Jesus will never take you out of the battle he will lead you to the battle, stand beside you in the battle, equip you for the battle and lead you through the battle to the other side where true victory awaits, but he will never take you out of the battle.

6. Executing and Creating the God Given Plan to be an Overcomer

Each day be engaged in things that will create peace in the midst of the battle.

Spiritually – Plan for Peace – Start the day with one hour of prayer, Bible reading and worship – memorize a scripture.

Philippians 4:4 AMP

Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near.

6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.

7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].

2. Emotionally: Focus on things that create confidence, and joy following the directions of the Lord 

8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

3) Physically – Practise the Christian disciplines – care for the temple of the Lord, go for walks, garden, exercise, eat right, drink your water, take your vitamin D, care for yourself physically.

9 The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you.

4) Financially – ensure you give at least 10% to the Lord. Then downsize to remove all the pressure from you, what is necessary, what is for life, eliminate things that drain your strength, your budget and your time.

Do a budget – make decisions based on the truth of the budget.

Eliminate things that steal your funds:

1. Monthly memberships – like net flix
2. Prepackaged foods -learn the joy of cooking from scratch
3. Stop all periodicals
4. Buying daily coffee or treats
5. Buying “things” – poor people buy things – rich people invest. face the Lie of “I need this” be honest with yourself- you don’t need it, you want it!

Use the savings to pay down the debt, a debt free life is a peaceful life.

Satan will throw all kinds of Goliaths in your path to challenge your faith and walk with the Lord.

Life itself will throw challenges and difficulties in your way to overcome.

BUT God, our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has a remedy…  and  says..

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Jn 10:10