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“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand…. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.” --I Samuel 17:46-47 I want to talk to you about the giants in your life…the giant-sized challenges and obstacles that are determined to overwhelm and defeat you. Whether you are facing an enormous personal crisis, a financial disaster, or some other type of hideous giant, there’s something I want you to do. Say these words with me right now, “The battle is the Lord’s!” Say it again, “The battle is the Lord’s!” I want you to let these words that David spoke to Goliath take root in your heart. They reveal the source of David’s authority and the key to his victory. Now the people around David feared for his life. And they tried to equip him, in a physical sense, to fight like a soldier. But this would have been an enormous mistake, and David knew it. David knew that the real source of strength…his authority to fight and defeat the giant…was in God. And this same authority has been given to you, too! Now, you may say, “Pastor, I’m no David.” But you can be! Christ is in you, he has given you the authority to fight and win in his name! Whatever your giants may look like, take them to God. The battle is the Lord’s!   GOD HAS GIVEN YOU THE AUTHORITY TO FIGHT AND WIN IN HIS NAME!

Responding to the Preaching of Jesus

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.”
Luke 4:28–31

There are many events recorded in Scripture that would be amazing to have witnessed in person. We think of David’s battle with Goliath, Daniel in the den of lions, or Elijah calling down fire on Mt. Carmel and picture the events in our minds. But what would it have been like to have heard Jesus preach in person? We tell ourselves that we would eagerly receive His teaching and hang on every word, but often that was not the response of those who heard Him.
When Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth and preached in the synagogue, those who had watched Him grow up, and should have been the first to respond and follow Him, did not like what they heard. In fact, they were so outraged that they tried to kill Jesus. If you have the chance to see Nazareth today you can still visit the place overlooking the city where that attempted murder took place. After that response, Jesus moved His headquarters to Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
What a tragedy to have Jesus in your presence but reject His message. We do not have Jesus physically present to hear His voice, but we can read His Word. What is our response? Do we gladly obey what He says, or do we find, like the people of Nazareth, that the message compels us to make changes we are unwilling to make?
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Rejecting what God tells us to do robs us of the blessing of obedience and brings judgment to our lives.