263. The battle is the Lord's: He is the living God.
1 April 2022
“The battle is the Lord's.”
"Fighting Your Fear
David and Goliath
1 Samuel 17
47 “All those gathered 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.”
36 "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God."
From "Slaying The Giants In Your Life"
David Jeremiah
You may long for your fear to simply vanish or wear off, but it isn’t going anywhere—not on its own. If you want to defeat it, you must be like David: Gather up your stones and advance boldly!
Pull five verses from the living water just like five smooth stones in David’s pouch, and let them fly! Don’t worry about that fearsome giant; the bigger they come, the harder
they fall.
Cultivate a Closer Relationship with God
Yes, you can confront your fears by drawing near to God. Think back to those spies who entered Canaan. Up to now, we haven’t mentioned that there were two dissenters in the group. They went on the same trip, saw the same walled cities and the same giants, and they brought back a minority opinion. Joshua and Caleb listened patiently to all the worst-case scenarios and calmly said, “We can do this.” As I’ve read this narrative over the years, I’ve always felt the difference between the ten and the two was that they used different yardsticks. The negative group measured the giants by their own stature, while Joshua and Caleb measured them by God’s stature. These two were the only ones who finally measured up to the privilege of entering the Promised Land. The others fell short.
It’s one more good reason to become active in ministry. Be
an encourager. Be an ambassador of the love of God. I know of no better prescription for misery of any kind. As you can see, there’s nothing trite about my advising you to cultivate a closer relationship with God. That’s the ultimate fear strategy.
Commit Your Life to Jesus Christ
There is one ultimate fear every human being must face— one fear that stands taller than all the others. The ultimate giant is Death itself.
I know now that I’m not afraid of death. I can say this because I’ve been right out to the edge of mortality, looked death in the face, and discovered that I’m not afraid. I’m willing to move on to my next destination—though I’m not eager to get a head start. I happen to love life. I’m devoted to my ministry and my family, and I have no desire to die. But it’s a wonderful thing to come to a sense of peace about the finality of this life. It’s good to be able to say, “I’m not afraid to die.”
Your sins will not be held against you now if you’ll accept the gift that Jesus purchased with His life. He brought eternity back to you and me, and He brought us home again to God. The power of death was totally broken. Death has no power at all outside of the lies and distortions of the deceiver. The devil wants you to believe that death is still a giant. He wants you to believe your sins still give death the final word, and that you must therefore live in terror. But the truth is that Jesus paid the debt."
Ate Becks Perez, my benefactor in Christ, would say, may ipagawa pa sayo ang Panginoon. My privilege for that, in gratitude for the Lord's surpassing compassion.
My skirmishes with death has become precious moments of solitude for my soul.
I would regard my long season of severe affliction as the beginning of my faith journey. I would not be at this point writing about God's grace if I did not experience serious failure that my abilities counted to nothing, yet the Good Lord provided for all the needs of my family at that very crucial stage that I was at my wit's end.
During my bout with depression, my fear was that I would not see my eldest daughter graduate college. That's about 18 years ago, yet God allowed me to even see my three children's children, now five with age between five and two.
I have put my faith in Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior.
I praise the living God.
""He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:10, 2, 1), in Jesus' name. Amen.
3 April 2018"
May you be blessed with God's Word.
Maraming salamat.
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