Authenticity

Authenticity 1 Samuel 17:38-40NKJB

Haddon Robinson once gave this word of wisdom "In any situation, what you ARE determines what you see, what you SEE determines what you DO." Keep that in mind as we study David, Saul and Goliath.

So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.

David was certainly the underdog in this situation because he encountered, according to Scriptures, a nine foot nine inch champion clothed in an armor that weighed 125 pounds. This Goliath from Gath dismayed, discouraged and scared the people of God.

The valley of Elah became the second home for this professional giant named Goliath, he dominated the field. He challenged anyone to come and fight him. Goliath had never lost, his game was winner take all.

David the shepherd had never contented in this type of arena before; moreover, he had never worn a armor suite~ much less Saul’s armor.

Hear this word~ Upon leaving your field of specialty, you'll find many people that want to give you advice, instructions, they even want to send you off to a training workshop, along with armloads of books.

David listened to Saul and allowed Saul’s armor to be placed on him. The Bible say’s, “David could hardly move.”

It wasn’t easy to do what David did that day, because David loved Saul. He admired King Saul, He served King Saul, but when it came to wearing Saul’s armor, David quickly found out he couldn’t.

Ephesians 6:13TM Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet.

Name some of those weapons:

Salvation.

Faith.

Righteousness.

Peace.

Total truth.

Prayer.

I was a very young pastor~ 28, our church had grown from 7 to over 300, I was asked to give a testimony of how John Maxwell’s leadership material had helped me grow the church. The only problem was I didn’t use his material. God had grown the church His way~ through willing vessels.

However, because I was asked and felt pressured, I tried to testify, but to no avail, I literally became tongue tied.

Praise God for David, because he was both modest enough and bold enough to reject the suggestion that he do his work the way Saul did.

David needed what was authentic to him, he had shepherded with his sling and some stones. In the past, David had killed a lion and a bear!

2 Corinthians 10:12NLT Oh, don't worry; we wouldn't dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!

The question is~ Are you going to live your life from you knees imaginatively and personally? Or are you going to live it conventionally and second-handed?

Do you want the admiration of a King Saul or by King God?

In John 17, Jesus’ prayers covers the whole chapter, and after his sweet fellowship with His Father, He enters a garden where He would be taken, eventually tried and persecuted.

Listen to John 18:1TM Jesus, having prayed this prayer, left with his disciples and crossed over the brook Kidron at a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples entered it.

There’s 3 things I want you to always remember:

Be authentic.

Refuse to die a copy. Be yourself, God created you like no one else so stay true to yourself.

Ephesians 2:10NKJB For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

David used the resources God had developed within him.

To become authentic means to become genuine.

Hints in becoming genuine.

1. Honest -- Speak the truth.

2. Direct -- Speak in terms that are clear, concise and focused.

3. About here-and-now -- Speak about what is going on right now.

4. From you -- Report your own experience of the here-and-now.

5. Non-judgmental of others -- Speak about what you are experiencing around others, not of your judgments of others.