Disarmed, not ready to arm
1st Sam 30:1-8 NKJ
1. Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,
2. and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.
3. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.
4. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
5. And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelites, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.
6. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
7. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8. So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”
And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
We all know what it means to have your feet kicked out from under us, to have the wind knocked out of our sail, to be out of our own resources and be down to nothing, to be running on empty.
How many of you have ever experienced a God moment, and He met your need at just the right time in just the right way?
There are a lot of people this morning who never have, they are running on empty, discouraged and in depression over issues the devil has thrown at them
They are disarmed and disengaged from Gods presence, and they are in a state to where they are not ready to be rearmed
Christians and non believers alike who over certain circumstances,
have been beat down by the devil and the world, to the point of exhaustion.
They are so discouraged in their personal life, and just like David and his men, spiritually they have been disarmed, and their not ready to arm.
They have been discouraged almost to the point of no return.
After 1,000’s of yrs. Of modern medical discoveries, doctors still dispense medicine that only treats the symptom and only masks what’s going on,
the treatment and real cure can only be found in the presence and strength of the Lord God Almighty…
Discouraged define:
to tend to prevent something from happening by making it more difficult or unpleasant
make somebody less optimistic: to make somebody feel less motivated, confident, or optimistic
You see, the devil never cares, how or what it takes to get to you, just as long as it does.
Discouragement and depression are some of the best tools, the devil has in his bag of tricks.
Here are a few facts I found online;
Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.
Everyone, will at some time in their life be affected by depression -- their own or someone else’s
Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least four percent of preschoolers -- over a million -- are clinically depressed
The rate of increase of depression among children is an astounding 23%
15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression.
80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment.
Depression will be the second largest killer after heart disease by 2020 -- and studies show depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease.
Depression results in more absenteeism than almost any other physical disorder and costs employers more than US$51 billion per year in absenteeism and lost productivity, not including high medical and pharmaceutical bills.
I read a story about a man who tried to sell soap to a certain customer.
He started going to the customer in the morning and continued until the customer got wearied and said,
“Ah! This is the tenth soap seller that has come here. What is the problem? Okay how much is the soap? I will buy the soap so that they stop bothering me.”
And he bought the soap. The man then said, proudly “Point of correction sir, I am the only one that has been coming.
In the morning, I wore a suit and you turned me away. I went and changed each time and came back. I have been here ten times. Thank you for buying.”
The devil doesn’t care how many times it takes to get you were he wants you, and if there is one thing he’s consistent at, is doing what he does best, knocking on your door.
His philosophy is not if you will buy, but when you will.
The devils trouble and all that goes with it, will knock at your door repeatedly.
But let me tell you now and for future reference, you don’t have to answer the door!
Discouraged people snatch defeat from certain victory. They see victory coming down the road and somehow by the time it has gotten to them, its been turned it into defeat several times over.
They are worried about tomorrow even though they do not know what will even happen tomorrow.
They are and have been disarmed, and are not ready to arm.
People in that state of mind have faith alright, but their faith is in failure.
You know their the ones that claim “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”
Discouragement and the depression that goes with it, makes it hard and almost impossible to hear God, it consumes you!
So, before David could hear God, he had to encourage himself.
TBS. He shook off discouragement and believed that God would turn his troubles into goodness.
In Exodus 6:9, we see the situation of the children of Israel in Egypt.
God had already raised up a deliverer for them. But they weren’t ready when he showed up. So what happened?
Exodus 6:9:NKJ “But when Moses delivered this message to the Israelites, they didn’t even hear him—
they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions.”
They could not accept the good news because their spirits were down.
They were disarmed, not ready to arm!
At some point, you have to make a stand, you’ve got to shake off the dust from yourself and stand up and say: I don’t care what happens, I’m not living here anymore!
Eph. 6:10-18 MSG
10-12. “And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.”
And it is for keeps, in this day and age you have to be ready for anything and everything the devil throws your way,
Because he will throw everything at you that he can, even the kitchen sink!
Vs.13-18. “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. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up, so that no one falls behind or drops out.”
David and his men were dealt a devastating blow that day, they were down, running on empty
The word said “they wept until they had no more power to weep”
Tears didn’t do anything to improve their situation, tears never do,
Tears don’t move the hand of God, faith does!
the only thing tears accomplished was more dwelling on the negative, to the point were they wanted to stone David.
But when David encouraged himself in the Lord he began to pray with confidence and the wonderful promise came from the Lord:
“You shall surely pursue, and overtake and by all means recover.”
David would not have heard anything if he had chosen to remain discouraged.
I would like you to realize the following important truth: discouragement is and always has been a personal decision...
Only you can keep you there, only you get to decide if you go there in the first place,
only you get to decide how long you allow yourself to stay there. Only You! No one else, only you.
David and his men, They could have stayed there in that state of mind,
that would have been the easy thing to do, at least that’s what the devil wants you to think.
Don’t pitch your tent in downers Ville!
If you pitch your tent there, you will end up staying longer than you want to
And like the old saying goes, it’s a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there. “IT’S NIETHER”
And Staying there to long, will eventually kill you.
Vs. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
You have to make a conscious decision not to be discouraged any longer.
Always encourage yourself in the Lord, so you can hear Him clearly.
Do not wait for somebody to come around and encourage you. Because its probably not going to happen, there’s not many people who encourage others.
Oh, you might think that they are listening to your plight,
but soon as you take a breathe, they’ll be telling you all about their own problems,
not having the slightest problem one up’ing you in the least!
Whatever your need is, pray about it and lay it at the Saviors feet, and leave it there.
proclaim it as already done in Jesus Name and let Him do the worrying,
oh and by the way, He‘s not worried about it. And if He’s not worried about it, why should you be, if He’s not!
And one other thing, closing your prayer in Jesus name is not just a popular ending of a prayer, like a lot of people think.
It’s a proclamation that you believe by His finished work on Calvary, that He makes all things possible that you pray about to come about! Praise The Lord!!
Vs. 9. So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind.
10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.
Vs.17. Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
18. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.
19. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.
GIGATT(God is good all the time)
God was faithful to David and his men and gave them back what the devil had stolen from them and many times over.
God is not a respecter of persons, He will do the same for each one of us, Why? because He loves His Chilren!
Ephesians 3:10 MSG
8-10. “And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!”
No matter how it may ever look to us in the natural, God is always, I repeat always working on the behalf of His Children.
Always working together all things, for our good.
Always working behind the scenes for our benefit, always showing us His Unmerited Grace and Favour,
always pouring out His Love on us, always taking care of His own, the Kings Kids
Aren’t you glad, that you are a child of God this morning!
God has already supplied the solution for any and every situation we will ever face!
He always comes through for us.
Whether it’s the 1st time or 100th time,
He will be at the right place, at the right time, each and every time, when you need Him.
Rom. 8:31-39 MSG.
31-39. “So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:”
Disarmed, not ready to arm and all the things that go with it, child of God.
If you ever find yourself headed there,
Remember its just a trick of the enemy.
It’s the same old song and dance routine he‘s been doing for 1,000“s of years,
The principalities and powers of this world, Guilt and Condemnation, accusations and innuendos by the accuser.
Praise the Lord God Almighty, Jesus has already disarmed him and every one of those things associated with him on the cross and won the victory for you.
You don’t have fight for victory, its already been done, you as one of His very own, get the privilege to fight from victory.
Col. 2:14&15 NKJ
14. “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. (talking about the law and condemnation) And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Jesus act of Love on the cross, once and for all made it possible for you to have every spiritual blessing that there is to have at your disposal.
He has well equipped us with His entire arsenal, He is well able to supply our every need.
Phil 4:19 NKJ
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Its completely up to you, as to whether you want to possess all of the blessings that you are entitled to, or not.
You don’t have to go through life disarmed, not ready to arm
You, through Jesus finished work on the cross, can stand Armed, ready to disarm!!
Dear Jesus, Thank You for the Cross!
Lets pray.
