Daily Devotional for Monday April 7, 2014

David and Goliath

(1 Samuel 17:1-50)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, your poll question last week is very timely since our church is faced with this exact situation. We are being asked to help fund a ministry that the Board of Directors is headed by a "married lesbian." I have heard both sides but still have no clear answer about funding this "mission work." What do you say?

ANSWER: Funny, I have had church mission boards turn down requests from people in their congregation had made to help support Liveprayer because I was too "controversial" and "divisive!" If there is ever a question that makes my point of how "soft" and compromised the church is in the year of 2014, this is it. Sadly, this is NOT an isolated situation and is being faced by supposed Christian churches and denominations across the nation. The very clear point that nobody should miss is that this is even an issue being discussed and debated! Would you hire a child molester to be on the Board of a charity dealing with children? NO??? Why not??? How can any organization that claims to be a "Christian organization" such as a church, even bring such a topic to the table? What is there to discuss? Why not put baby-killing advocates on the Board of a Pro-Life ministry? As a side, I would immediately RUN from any church that even discussed this in the first place, making sure the pastor was properly admonished and rebuked as I was on the way out the door!!!

David and Goliath! (From email) "I just wanted you to know how much Friday's show revived my faith in God. Lately, I have been wondering if God would move in certain areas of life because it seemed that he hasn't been listening to my prayers. But, when you preached about David and Goliath and faith, I could feel my spirit being revived and quicken.

It's amazing how easily I could forget what God did for me in the past. But, the thing you said that ministered to and overwhelmingly blessed me the most was, your history with God is where your victory ultimately comes from. Hallelujah!!! That one state has set me free from fear and worry! Thank you Bill for allowing God to speak through you! My life will never be the same!

Link to Friday night TV program (the David and Goliath topic starts at the beginning of the second hour, apx 60 minutes into the program): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLB0Bd4FW9U&list=TLZHQC7k0fk2cSUSfhvv8pSS-8OSSkpaRc

As you read these words below today, hopefully take a few minutes to watch the topic from this past Friday's TV program, I know that at some point in your life you will have to battle Goliath. One of the reasons I exhort you each day to stay close to the Lord through time in prayer and the Word, through being in church to get that spiritual nourishment, to be in fellowship with other Believers, to find ways to serve God, is because we all have those sentinel moments in life when we will have to fight Goliath. At that moment you will either cower in your tent and refuse to fight like the armies of Israel and let your fear defeat you, or you will confidently go onto the battlefield knowing that victory is already yours like David did.

The word I want you to hear for your life today is that you will one day have to fight Goliath. It is not a matter of if, only when. Listen to me very closely now. You don't defeat Goliath when you actually fight him, you defeat Goliath before you ever step onto the battlefield. This is very deep so let me say it again and listen carefully. You don't defeat Goliath when you actually fight him, you defeat Goliath before you ever step onto the battlefield! Let me explain.

When you step onto the battlefield to fight Goliath, you are not going to have time to learn how to fight, you are not going to have time to come up with a strategy how to defeat the giant, you are not going to have time to develop the faith and trust in God to lead you to victory. These are all the things you better already know and have. If you don't, it is no wonder why you would be afraid and are defeated before your battle with Goliath even begins.

Look at David. When he walked onto the battlefield with Goliath, he KNEW he would be victorious. How did he know that? He had fought battles in the past and had been victorious. When he was guarding his father's sheep, he battled with a lion and won. When he was guarding his father's sheep, he battled with a bear and won. David had been in battle before. He knew how to fight. More important, he had developed a great faith in God who gave him the strength to win those battles.

So when David was preparing to fight Goliath, he already knew that the same God who delivered him from the paw of the bear, the same God who delivered him from he paw of the lion, was the very same God who would delver him from the Philistine giant Goliath!!!

This is why I stress to you so often how critical it is to be in the Word every day, to be in prayer every day, to fellowship with other Believers, to be in church and be fed spiritually, to find ways to serve the Lord. All of these things you do each and every day help build you up spiritually and strengthen your faith, while you fight the daily battles of life and God leads you to victory. That way when you have your showdown with a real giant like Goliath, you can go into that battle with the confidence and knowledge that the same God who has led you to victory in the past is the very same God who will lead you to victory today.

The Bible teaches that God is no respecter of persons, that what God did for one...David.. He will do for another...YOU!!!

I love you and care about you so much. My word for you today is PREPARE! Prepare now for your battle with Goliath. It is not a matter of if that battle will happen, it is only a matter of when. The time to win that battle is now before it ever happens. Faithfully pray each day, faithfully read the Word each day, faithfully fellowship with other Believers, faithfully go to church to be fed spiritually, faithfully serve God. It is your faithfulness NOW that will lead you to victory when you fight Goliath.

I will be praying for you. Praying for you to know VICTORY in your life over those day-to-day battles we all face. It is watching God lead you to those daily victories that will give you the confidence and faith to trust Him when the major battles arise. God is a God of VICTORY. Let me leave you with this Truth. The same God who led you to victory over your battles 10 years ago, the same God who led you to victory over your battles 5 years ago, the same God who led you to victory over your battles last year, the same God who led you to victory over your battles last month, is the VERY SAME GOD who will lead you to victory over your battles tomorrow and lead you to victory when you fight Goliath!

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller