Confronting Giants of life

Even in the old times, the children of Israel had obstacles along the way.

The place of enlargement in between now and then, there is a lot of work to do. There is a journey for your to move until you arrive at the promised land.

The challenge is that we sit down and do nothing.

There is always a journey for you to cover, keep being occupied, keep moving until you reach the destination God intends you to be.

David after being anointed to be king went back to looking after sheep. 1 Samuel 17:3 every one feared Goliath.

David realised that the killing of the lions, bears was not by his power, and because of his testimony, when he saw that Goliath had terrorised the army of Israel, his spirit was steered up, where others had seen death, he saw victory.

You might be waiting for that door to open, for that opportunity to arise, things might not be moving the way you would want them to move, but the word of the Lord is true, God doesn't change, his word is life. When God says stretch out, Stretch out. 

Keep your trust in the Lord  

Remember before you got that job, how much you fasted for it, how much you prayed for it. Now the job looks like nothing, but if you remember how God levelled that mountain for you, He will surely level the mountain ahead for you.

Its possible to forget the things the Lord has done for you and you start the take the things he has given you for granted, but take them seriously, and those testimonies will build your faith.

David had the testimony of confronting the Lions and Bears while looking after sheep, that  steered up his faith in the Lord.

Keep your morale high
Some times we miss opportunities because we think that we are not of the status of the opportunity, for example you leave a good managerial job just because it appears high.

Desire big things. Think about how big you can achieve, how much more you can achieve, keep your vision large.

Keep your morale high, don't say your too young, or too old. Joshua 14:10 He didn't think of his inability, he instead asked for a land for him to take, because he was still strong.

Speak to your situation. 
Speak the work of the Lord in your situation, it will obey, speak to luck, God has taken the place of abundance, you will not luck.

The word of God will work for you. Every time it spoken, it works for you.

Do not fear, do not give up. 
Hold on to the promise of the Lord, the giants you see today, are not real, step out to that thing that you are and you will be shocked how much you will prosper, how much you will win.

Fear not, fear not, for you will not be ashamed, neither will you be confounded, you will not be put to shame, stretch out, you will not be put to shame.

The Lord will walk with you, He will change your life,trust God, go for something bigger, risk, the Lord likes people who risk, who believe in Him. He will not fail them.

Go out and overcome, there is nothing that will fail you, absolutely nothing will fail you.

Stretch out

Confronting Giants

Psalm 42:1-11

This Psalm talks about  the war that happens within when you confront your giants. With the enemy questioning where your God is and if He is real.
The giants around us in our different aspects of life can be so many, in ministry, in the marketplace even in our homes.

How do you conquer these giants?

Everyone needs an enemy. Everyone needs an adversary. Everyone needs a giant.
Everyone who was called by God had to have enemies. Joseph had pride, an enemy within himself. His parents and brothers, Potiphar's wife. Moses had to defeat Pharoah.

Giants are necessary because they define us. If there was no Goliath, we would not know anything about David. If there no cross, we would not know about Jesus Christ. Face and confront your giant because that is what will define you. If you do not face your giant, you will be defined by nothing.

Understand that it all starts with you shining your light bright - by being the salt and light.
Matthew 5:14-16

There is always a danger when our light shines the brightest. We tend to hide our light so that our enemies do not see us. When we shine our light, we attract good people and enemies too. Your giant is revealed when you shine your light brightest. Don't be a secret agent. Be a public agent.
Preach the gospel, move in influence and tell of the goodness of the Lord.
Giants are not attracted to little things. Goliath called David little. Giants do not seek out people who are hiding.

Victorious living means you have defeated your enemies and giants. Once you defeat an enemy, you move to another level. What keeps us from moving to other levels is failure to confront our giants.

Proverbs 16:10
Isaiah 26:3
When you face your giant, you have to keep your mind on the Lord.

Psalm 18:28-30
Psalm 91:7-8
You cannot confront the devil with your imagination or cleverness but only by the Word of God. Speak the Word of God!

Ways of confronting and conquering giants.

1. Love your enemies.
Your physical enemies, those who say evil about you and do bad things to you, love them! They will see the goodness of the Lord to you and know that truly you are a child of God. They will be drawn to God that is why you should do it the Jesus way!
Matthew 5:44-45

You must love your giant before you defeat them. Get close to them and minister love and salvation to them.
In Acts 9, Ananias had to face Saul the giant who had been persecuting the church for him to receive salvation.

2. Confront principalities and powers not flesh and blood.
We conquer when we avoid personalizing the giants. They are not flesh and blood even when they appear so.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15
We fail to defeat giants today because we react in flesh and blood.

3. Know that vengeance is for the Lord.

Giants manifest through the people around us. Don't seek compensation against your giants and enemies, only compensate them for the harm they have caused.
Do not try to help the Lord in vengeance.
If we seek vengeance on our own, the world will become handicapped.
Do not fight back.

Philippians 2:13

Leviticus 19:18
Proverbs 25:21-22
Deuteronomy 32:35
Exodus 21:23-25
Matthew 5:38-39

4. Giants are crucibles and furnaces for our destiny.

God always turns your enemies into crucibles.
Joseph comforted his brothers who had oppressed him. they were the furnace that God sent to refine him. to get him to his destiny. him defeating the giant was good for him, his family, their children and the entire world.

Proverbs 17:3 

Genesis 50:19-21

5. Let the wheat and weeds grow together.

Evil will always surround us. Our focus should not be on illuminating it but on advancing righteousness.
Jesus teaches us the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13 to allow righteousness and evil to grow together. We should not eliminate anyone from the kingdom but advance the kingdom at all costs, allowing evil to be seen for what it is. In the end, we shall know what is wheat and what the weeds are. When you fight your giants, don't eliminate them from the Kingdom, they too must be saved.

6. Learn to push back.

There is a place for physically pushing back as long as we focus on principalities and powers not flesh and blood. When you do that, you will stand! As long as you are standing on the truth of the Word of God.
Nehemiah 13:19-21

7. Know that the battle belongs to the Lord.

All our focus should be on God. We should not be afraid because the Lord is sovereign and in control. Do not try to win the battle on your own.
Focus on eternity - that is the greatest victory of all!

Confronting Giants

1 Samuel 17:1-10.

Goliath used to make threats while his armies were drawing closer, probably Israel's army was retreating.

Jesse told David to deliver something to eat to his brothers. 

The king would offer gifts to whoever would fight and win Goliath.

David stopped looking at the huge tall Philistine and noticed that he was not circumcised.

1 Samuel 17:29

Let no man's heart fail. After 40 days, Soul gets a man who was brave enough to confront Goliath.

Proverbs 19:15

"And this uncircumcised Philistine will he like one of them." - Speak to that challenge and tell it those words.

For the Lord who has delivered you out of all your challenges, He will deliver you out of that challenge too.

And Saul said,  "Go, let the Lord be with you"

Sometimes when you when desperate, you use unconventional things.

We shall not confront the enemy the way we've always done and think we shall win, we have to use in conventional means.

This one morning, the scenario has changed, the picture has changed.

David approaches Goliath in the name of the Lord, the God of the armies of Israel.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled...

The children of Israel came and destroyed the camp of the Philistines.