___________________________________________________
“He [Satan] will take away your prayer life
little by little, and cause you to trust God less and less and yourself more
and more, a little at a time. He will make you feel somewhat cleverer than
before. Step by step, you are misled to rely more on your own gift, and step by
step your heart is enticed away from the Lord.”
Watchman Nee
__________________________________________________
Today’s Text: 1 Samuel 17
For forty days the Philistine (Goliath) came forward every
morning and evening and took his stand. (Vrs 16)
Words of Devotion
Everybody knows the story
of David and Goliath, right? But have you thought about that story and how it
might apply to you today? Goliath was this evil, nasty, mocking giant of a man.
He was standing out in the valley in front of the whole Israelite army talking
down God and God’s chosen. “Choose a man and have him come down to me. If
he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I
overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then
the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and
let us fight each other.” (Vrs 8b-10)
Goliath called the chosen
ones to physical battle and the stakes were fear and slavery. But when the
boy David came into the camp, he saw the battle differently: 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 Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have
defied." (Samuel 17:45)
Against all earthly odds, David nailed Goliath with one smooth stone and his sling,
killing him instantly. After the short showdown, David cut off the Philistine’s
head and brought it to Jerusalem and he put the Philistine’s weapon in his own
tent. He held his head up in Jerusalem. The little guy beat the big
guy. And he did it with a very unconventional weapon: complete dependency
on the Holy God of Israel.
Let’s fast forward a few hundred years. Jesus, the Son of God, goes to the
cross. It’s like David and Goliath meeting again. There’s ridicule and there’s
mocking and Jesus comes with a very unconventional weapon. It’s called a cross.
“Now is the
time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven
out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself.” (John 12:31-32)
Jesus knew the battle plan ahead of time. On the cross, Christ accepted the
sewer of human sin, the cesspool, all of it, all at once. It was a horrible
exchange. Satan brought everything he had against Jesus physically, and
Christ was being filled with our sin at the same time. Jesus took the shot.
Now, Satan has nothing to accuse you of anymore. Everything that he could
accuse you of was nailed to the cross. You have nothing to be afraid of, nothing
to shame you or enslave you. But Satan can still lie to you. If you
believe the Father doesn’t love you, that Jesus can’t save you, that the Holy Spirit
isn’t in you… then Satan can enslave you in fear again. It’s the only
thing he can do to you, because in truth Jesus paid it all and vanquished the
enemy.
A Closing Prayer: Almighty God, by the Truth of your living
Word, I believe that the Father loves me, that the Son died for me, and that
the Spirit lives in me today. Expose the lies of Satan that cause me to fear
and make me a slave. I want to know the Truth and I want the Truth to set me
free! Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment