newchapterx2

Great posts everyone! Very informational and encouraging! These posts were just what I needed right now. Thank you so much and God Bless you.

What happens when we begin questioning the most basic truths of God? When we start to entertain thoughts of the possibilities of other ways to the Father besides through the death and resurrection of His Son, we are already dangerously far from the unequivocal basis of our faith. With all the “Christian” teachings available to us in this time of pseudo-intellectualism, we have strayed so far from Biblical truth, we are simply being led by our own ideas and feelings. At a time in history when we desperately need to stay anchored in the basic truths of salvation through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are seeking more complicated reasons for God’s love and faithfulness. Any time we start to believe God’s love for us is based on our own worth apart from Christ, we are walking on the thin ice of worldly wisdom. If our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, we will not walk upon that ice, knowing that we will come crashing through into the icy waters of death. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, “I have become all things to all men.” (1Cor.9:22). Does this mean that he took on the worldly attributes, mannerisms and habits of those to whom he was presenting the gospel? No, but he did use their cultural mindsets and customs to bring a point to them. While in Athens, a place where many gods were worshiped, Paul used the altar that had been erected to honor “the unknown God” to teach them about the one True God. (Acts 17:16-34) He never condoned their idol worship, but used it as a cultural point of contact to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to them. He never compromised the message; he merely used what tools were available to bring them to an understanding of the One who held their fate in His hands. Paul didn’t tell them that their idols would eventually bring them into the right place in God, he told them that they needed to truly know “the unknown God”, and the way to know Him was “by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). The Man whom he raised from the dead is still the only way to God the Father. Nothing has changed that fact in the last 2000 years and nothing will ever change it. There is only one pathway to God, and it is, has always been and will always be through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

During my devotions one morning in March of 2005, I was reading in 1 Samuel about David facing and killing the giant, Goliath. I always get a thrill when I get to the part where David tells Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you…Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”1Samuel 17:45-47 Once more as I read these passages, I was in awe. But then the Lord began to show me some other things: 1. David did not just show up there on his own. King Saul had lost God’s anointing, so God spoke to Samuel giving him instructions on where to find the one He had chosen to replace Saul. 1 Samuel 16:1-23 Because of circumstances pre-arranged by God, and out of obedience to his father, Jesse, David came to be in the place where he was to face the giant philistine. 1 Samuel 17:12-20 2. David did not just suddenly have the tremendous faith to face this impossible situation. When Saul tried to talk him out of going up against Goliath, David sited to him earlier tests of faith, …”Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God…The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1Samuel 17:34-37 God had built his faith over time until he was ready to receive the faith from God it would take to face the giant and slay him. 3. He went to battle with only the weapons that God provided. When Saul put his own armor and helmet on David, he couldn’t even walk under the weight of it; it was so heavy, oversized and cumbersome. 1 Samuel 17:38-40. How many times have we gone forward in obedience to something God has told us to do, only to take our own man-made weapons with us (perhaps our own will and impatience, deciding on our own what the results should be), and then wonder why the result lacks power. We are then surprised that the Lord has not been glorified in the way He originally intended. David would have been mowed down immediately if he had kept the borrowed armor. God’s armor was all he needed. 4. David’s heart was right before God – “For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1Samuel 16:7. I don’t know about you, but I am so grateful for God’s mercy and grace. That He looks at my heart and not my outward appearance, gives me such hope. Because I know that He can and will change my heart. I can’t do it, I can only offer up myself as a living sacrifice, and He does the rest. Praise God! So this boy, who was not mighty in physical strength, but mighty through his God, brought down Goliath, with one stroke of a sling. We often forget that the “battle is the Lord’s”. If we go into that battle with the same weapons David used – obedience, humility and trust, we too can bring down giants by the power of the Lord God Almighty.

I agree galloping! Here's a smile back atcha!

That's a very interesting dream. I have never dreamed of speaking in tongues, but have been told that I was speaking in tongues in my sleep, and have also woken up speaking in my prayer language. It sounds like it was an awesome service too!

Great post!