Ninjas

By Odon Bulamba

Proverbs 4: 23, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life”.

The root of our message is from this verse.  The title for today’s message is “Ninja”.  We all know ninjas.  A ninja is a human being but is different from other human beings when it is time to operate.  They disguise themselves to make them to be called ninjas.  What does the ninja’s face look like?  They wrap cloth around their eyes.  They hide their entire body, you can’t see their skin.  The only place seen is their eyes.  Without the outfit, you will never know the person is a ninja.

 

The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23 to keep your heart with all vigilance because from it flows all life.  Another version says, be careful what you think about because your thoughts run your life. 

 

Ideas that we have run our lives.  That is one of the biggest tools that God has given to us to run our lives.  You go to your office in the morning and an idea pops up, I will do a, b, c today and you tell your boss who says good idea.  Your ideas will run your kitchen.  I’ll organise the kitchen with this over here and this over there.  Our ideas tell us what we want to wear today.  Our thoughts tell us this is what we want to eat from the restaurant.  Ideas will even govern a country.  This tool which is the ideas we have is so strong that when an idea comes in your mind it is like a ninja, quietly and disguises itself and is coming for action.

 

You can be sitting here but ideas can come into your head and push you to judge, minimise people, hate people and also push you to love people.  Ideas are like ninjas because when a ninja comes they wear black outfits and carry a sword on their back and you can be surprised that the ninja can pull the sword from back and attack.  Why don’t they put the sword in front or on their hip where you can see it but instead they put the sword on their back where you can’t see it.

 

When ninjas come in, they come in quietly and you won’t notice them.  When ideas come into your life, they start quietly and attack, e.g. “look at Ange, nice shoes but she must have stolen them from somewhere,” and the ideas grow big.  Ninjas have tactics they use.  They can come in through the window and destroy the inside and leave without leaving a mark that they were there.  This is like when ideas raise up in your mind and take you far away.  The sword is the Word of God and should be used for a good purpose.  Your words can be used sharply like a sword.

 

Imagine if you were given an opportunity to use your ideas every day.  How great will you be?  From someone’s idea, we have houses, microphones, we build new things that never existed but when it comes to the Word of God, people don’t want to use ideas.  People don’t’ want to do more research or be committed when it comes to reading the Word of God.

 

A ninja is a human being but the difference is that they are trained to kill, destroy or save.  Your ideas are trained by someone, me and you.  When an idea comes up, you can decide what to do with it.  You can accept it or reject it.  If you allow your idea to take control, that idea will lead you to something stupid.  Sometimes in groups you will see people’s ideas become acceptable, for example, a preacher can have a glass of bear while preaching instead of water and the congregation finds it normal.  I’ve seen a preacher take a puff on a cigarette while preaching.  The congregation finds it normal because they are familiar with the idea.

 

My ideas can hurt and harm others, especially if you don’t think carefully you can end up destroying many people. 

 

When you train your ideas they can jump in two places: (1) your head and (2) your hip. 

 

(1) The ideas go to your head and make a contract with you.  For example you have an idea to marry someone. and you give a ring to that person and your agreement backs your ideas.  You see people stand firm in their ideas no matter what people say and they defend the ideas even if the ideas are wrong, “This is what it is and it must be like this”. 

 

Sometimes your ideas may make you doubt and ask, does God really exist and you wonder where that idea comes from.  Sometimes your ideas can push you to think, I don’t look good, I should look like someone else.  Those ideas will create this big monster in your life and start to destroy your life (like a ninja).

 

Your ideas start to blame others.  Ideas will push you to suspect anything.  My child is not here, he must be there and you stick on that and your child may come back and you ask where they were and you may push them to lie because of fear. 

 

Ideas make a commitment with you. 

 

1 Corinthians 2:10, ideas are killing the church and destroying people.  Our thoughts are the centre of everything.  One time there was something strange in a country where many people were thinking about God.  To think about God, you need faith.  When ideas come they come in human wisdom very often.  Meaning that you have to act like a human being. 

 

For example, there was a man who loved a woman and they collected money, $2.4 million was collected and saved to plan a big wedding.  As they were planning, they went to a beach and decided this is where our guests will stay for two weeks so we can enjoy and share the wedding. Before the wedding, the husband and wife decided to surf and the wife fell into the water and people tried to save her and suddenly blood everywhere.  Those coming to save her turned back and shouted for help.  The man was taking photos and couldn’t do much.  Someone took the body out of the water and her legs were gone and she passed away.

 

The man and lady had a good idea to join people at a beach for the wedding and they worked hard for that but everything changed.  Most of the times, our ideas are not God’s plans.  Your ideas are nothing if God doesn’t put his hand on it.  Don’t tell people your ideas are the right one until you know God’s will in the situation. 

 

David was a good friend of Johnathon.  Their love was so strong and powerful.  Someone came running, Saul and his son Johnathon is killed.  This poor nurse looking after the son of Johnathon (Mephibosheth) who accidently dropped him trying to escape from those who might kill him.  The boy after falling became lame. 

 

In those days, if you are the king, your son becomes king.  Johnathon should become king but God prepared David instead.  Although Johnathon passed away, his son Mephibosheth was alive.  Why didn’t he become king?  That is the idea of the time.

 

Those ideas live in us and we believe this is how it should work but sometimes God changes them.  Whatever you are doing, whatever you are thinking, let God be a part of it.  Show me God the right way so I can do things correctly. Sometimes I can think negatively about someone, and I can stop and ask why and where is God’s glory in this.

 

I have a friend who grew up in a family where no one trusted him or accepted him.  Everybody will say he is wrong.  When he tried to read to his dad, his father will say, “go away, you know nothing”.  In him, he believed that everybody hates me and up to the age of 46, he believed that he was not loved until the day that God came close to him and said, I love you as your God.

 

The love of God for you is so big. 

 

(2) Your ideas will be like this bright belt that I wear around my hip and your body is like my black clothing.  E.g. “If I do this, I will get money.  If I use this strategy, I will get glory”.  Ephesians 6, the belt is the truth and ideas come like the truth and the ninja that is entering your mind is the only truth in your mind and those ideas won’t stop there and will start to send signals.  The ideas will go up to your neck and nothing works a part from this idea.  “This idea doesn’t want to leave me, I can’t forget about it”.  Your husband, wife, friend and neighbours will explain to you 600 x and you will continue to believe they are wrong and you are right.

 

You will put yourself in this big couch, I am reigning now, I’m controlling but where is the will of God in all of this.  You can see your brain become squares which are small ideas mixed with your faith and it becomes a struggle.  I have an idea, I’m 70, what will happen tomorrow, fear starts and you start a battle with yourself because your thoughts start to lead your life like a bowtie around your neck and when you have a bowtie around your neck, it stops your neck making a good contact with your body.

 

A leopard will jump on your neck because it is easy to kill from the neck.  When ideas sit down in your body as the truth, they send signals to your neck.  Ephesians 6 doesn’t talk about the protection needed for your neck.  How to protect ourselves when ideas want to harm you?  What to do when bad ideas destroy your peace. 

 

Ninja ideas will knock at your door and you open your mind and ideas will take you left and right.  Maybe your husband is sleeping next to you but those ideas don’t care, they start to play with your mind.  They will make you judge, laugh, and become sick because of ideas.

 

We have to be careful with our thoughts.  We have to be careful in the way we think because they can lead us to please God or make him unhappy.  How do you think?  How do you know that what you think is good or true ideas?  What do you do with your ideas?  How many ideas could you store since you were born?  God is teaching us today, we are free in Jesus but we should also be free from our thoughts.  Whenever thoughts come that don’t please God, call on Him and ask for his help so they don’t destroy your family, yourself, or your faith.

 

Ideas can push ourselves to compare ourselves to others and jealousy comes in.  The boy who became lame, David one day asked whether any of Johnathon’s family had survived.  The boy did nothing wrong to become lame but God wanted him to be that way. By a child falling down, it usually wouldn’t make him paralysed.  The boy’s life was completely changed.  The boy asked how David could call a man like him who is like a dog but because David loved Johnathon, he wanted him.

 

Think about the love you have for your family and friends, work, church, faith.  What are you going to give back when one of your gifts is in front of you with weaknesses?  Yesterday you used to sing, but today you don’t because you are lazy and now you can’t stand properly anymore, your legs are lame.  Will you pick up the gift and give it back life?  Will you help others with their weaknesses to fix the situation? That can only happen when the bad ideas are put aside.  Then you will see God’s glory.

 

What breaks your heart?  Ideas.  Depression, rejection, sickness are caused by ideas.  Ideas destroy your life.  The more you store the ideas, the more you feel sick.  Kingdom of God looks like children.  Children don’t care about ideas.  They express them and then forget but us adults keep them forever and create problems.  We hate others and judge others because of someone’s ideas.  Who supplies the food for your ideas and helps them to grow to the point that you are separated from God?

 

Let’s pray and ask God to change our way of thinking so we can live in unity and joy.

The Test

 

 

 

Glory to God to be here this morning, this is a blessing for all of us to see another day.  Every morning I look at myself and think, I was younger than this two years ago.  When I look at what I used to wear two years ago, I wonder how I wore it because now it is old fashioned.  Life goes on and everyday there is something new and what you saw yesterday as being flash and perfect, is now useless. 

 

I found a Bible here that belongs to Tyrone.  If someone tells you to pay $40 for the Bible, you will say no because it is old but the words inside the Bible are not old, they have the same power as a new Bible.  Why do we prefer something new?

 

Today’s message is titled the test.  When a test is in front of you, what do you do?  Do you quit, endure, surrender or say, I don’t know what to do?

 

1 Sam 17

This is a story we know very well, the story of Goliath and David.  David was born in a family of boys.  His brothers were stronger physically, they were taller, bigger and more handsome and more attractive.  Awkwardly, David is there as a tiny little boy and some theologians wonder if he was really the descendant of Jesse because he looked different to his other brothers.  Even David wrote that his father he did not know.

 

Everybody in the family looked down on David, he didn’t deserve to be there because he was different from the rest.  The father wondered what kind of boy is this, shame on me to have a son like you who can’t act like a man so he sent him to look after the sheep, a job normally given to slaves and workers and those not really strong for a battle.  A shepherd is looked down upon in that society and whenever a shepherd looked for a wife, they would be ashamed to tell the woman that they are a shepherd.

 

When it was time to anoint a new king of Israel, God sent Samuel to go to the house of this man Jesse and bless the one He has chosen to become a king.  Samuel asked the father, who among your children should become the king and he took the first born because for the past several years he had been serving the army and knew all the strategies of the war so Jesse believed that son will become a very good king but God said, “no, not him”.  Then Jesse chose the second son but God put him aside also, and then the next son until there were no sons left except David. 

 

Samuel must have looked at David, a skinny, sickly looking boy, “This is the one? God are you joking” but God said, “Yes that is the one, the weakest one, the one that you believe is not like others”.  Maybe the brothers started to say, “We are not even sure who his father is, he is not even one of us”.

 

Samuel put the oil on his head but he didn’t become king straight away.  Receiving anointing is like a ring when you get married and you say, “look this is my ring I give to you and from now on me and you are one, during hard times and joy, we will be together”.  If you take the ring off and put it on another finger, it will change the interpretation and whoever will see the ring is on a different finger will not believe you are married.  The same ring can go through different fingers.

 

This alliance God did with David, He said keep it there, the anointment is on you, now start to work.  Whenever God anoints you with oil on your head, how long will you keep that on your head?  Will you not take a shower?  Will you be afraid to if you shower, you will lose it? 

 

Samuel 17:17, David’s father requested that David take food to his brothers at the army camp and to check on how they are.  The next morning, David started the journey.  He took only the meal to his brothers and no one else and his only mission was to find out how they were doing.  He didn’t leave home without any other purpose or idea that he will face a big challenge in front of him.  He came with his food only.

 

When he arrived, the anointing started to play a role in David’s life and that is when God made the anointment to take up action and it started to shake David.  Goliath showed up and he was a giant.  The Bible tells us how tall he was, he was three times the height of me.  His arm circumference of his arm was almost the size of my chest and when he walked, the ground would shake because of his size and looking at him, you see death.  Imagine the army of Saul who were trained and were good soldiers and their role was to fight and kill the enemy but when Goliath turned up, the whole battalion feared.

 

Why couldn’t they put together their entire strength and defeat him.  He would abuse God and Israel.  Saul said, “If you fight I will give you everything you want, even my own daughter,” without asking permission from the daughter.  Who doesn’t want to become rich?  That day, people were running away from wealth and believed it is better to die poor.  The little weakest David, was there.  Whoever will fight Goliath would get power and wealth.

 

David, a shepherd found this mission in front of him.  David has zero training of how to fight or even put on the military clothes. He doesn’t know because he is not a soldier.  Goliath started to abuse God and David wasn’t happy.  Abuse someone else but not God.

 

The battle was not David’s battle, he is not a soldier or here to fight the enemy but God put him in that position to allow David to join in.  I remember when I was a child and my young sister on our way to school said, “See that person, he beats me up every day”.  I was around 9 and he was the same age.  I didn’t stop to think and I jumped on him and started to fight.  As a child, I had a terrible way of living and whenever I fought someone, I would never give up until I had won the battle.  If I lost the fight, I would come back the next day to fight and I would keep coming back until I finally won.

 

People separated us and I told them that he beats up my sister and my sister said, “No, not him the other one”.  I jumped into a situation and fought the wrong person.  What should I do?  Whenever we have strength from God and His alliance and we have life and talent, we sometimes misuse that talent.  Who chose you to be born how you are?  Did you choose your mother/father or choose to be clever/not or short/tall?  God has put you in a position where you face the realities of the world and you have no choice.

 

You might be born in a broken family or in a family where your father has no time for you or your mother is a witch and someone comes to you and says, “Odon what do you want to tell us, your mother is a prostitute,” and I get abused for what God had chosen.  Why this battle Lord that I don’t even know? Some people will hate themselves or others because God has put them in a terrible situation.

 

Now David is here, “I have to go and fight against the giant”.  “Hey David, what are you saying?”  Then his brothers became angry, “No, you didn’t come to fight but you came to bring food and now it’s time to go back to look after the sheep.  You don’t’ deserve to be here”.  How often do people come into your life and tell you that you don’t deserve this, “We know you are weak,” and they stress you and push you down and you start to doubt who you are.

 

“Your sheep are in the desert waiting for you, they will get lost and your place is there”.  How often do you feel you are not good in this area and others tell you, “You are not good at this, you are better at something else?”  E.g. “Odon you are not good in English, don’t preach here in New Zealand, just wait until you go back to your country so you can speak in your own language”. 

 

You may start to convince yourself that you are weak but we sing, “Let the weak be strong”.  David remembered he had the anointment, “I was anointed and chosen to become a king”.  Although it was impossible for someone who had not joined the army to become king but David held unto God’s promise.  The Bible clearly said, the first born became angry.

 

Imagine, if you Peter go to see your older brother Ken and he becomes angry at you because you won’t listen to him.  You know how brothers can fight.  David tried to reason with his brother which means he started to become afraid of him.  Someone told Saul that they had found someone who is ready to give up his life to save the kingdom.

 

Imagine being Saul and no one accepts your order to fight.  “Go forward,” and they move back.  If you are the king, you will maybe kill all them yourself because they are not good soldiers, they are running away.  When the Prime-minister is there, the rugby team of that country will play stronger and accept to break all their bones because their leader is present.  Here, the presence of Saul did not stop those people from running away.

 

Saul asked David, “What is your size?”  He gave David the clothes from the king, clothes that not every person can touch.  The brothers of David started the first war against David while he hasn’t even faced Goliath yet.  Instead of unifying themselves to attack the enemy, they attack their brother.  In the Christian community, those that are with you will be the first to let you down and tell you, “I know your weaknesses”.

 

The next battle David faced was to put on the king’s clothes that didn’t fit and try to use the king’s weapons.  David tried to wear it but he decided, “No, I won’t use what you have given to me because this doesn’t belong to me.  I have the oil on me.”  The anointing God has given you, is on you and the world can’t see it but God can always see His hand upon you.  How many stones did David have?  Five.  He picked up the first stone.  I’m sure his brothers thought he would die.

 

David didn’t remember he was a simple shepherd but remembered, “Whenever the enemy attacked my sheep, I would use my slingshot”.  The enemy here is abusing God.  What will you use?  Remember what you have is sufficient.  Your life is sufficient to defeat those who others used to run from.  If you have $2, it is enough.  If you have a message to preach, it is enough.

 

Goliath, “Are you joking, look at me, little man, are you joking?”  David, “In the name of the Lord, today, your day is finished”.  Goliath, “You are coming to me like someone who is attacking a dog,” and he became angry.  David wondered, should I go back?  If you see a tree 600 metres away from you, the tree looks small but coming closer, it gets bigger.  David coming closer realised Goliath was bigger.  David said, “I’ve given my life for the sheep, let me try”.  Others cheered him on, like parents at a rugby match.  When he scores, we take the glory of our son.

 

Goliath was killed and he couldn’t be killed without David’s effort.  God gave David the skills, the anointment and the right time to be at the battle field.  Although the purpose was to bring food, God changed the plan and he became a hero.  You can think your life is this but in one second, you can become someone else.

 

Maybe his brothers cheered and said, “Glory to our family”.  Now he is part of the family and maybe they start to think about money, “It’s because of us that you came here to bring food”.  What would be your reaction against your brothers, maybe you will take revenge.  

 

After killing Goliath, the Philistines ran away.  David knew how to use a sling shot but he had to use his physical effort to make the stone to move from one point to another.  Most of us Christians fail when it’s time to use our effort, “God help me,” “Oh, He knows my weaknesses”, “Please God, I can’t do it, forgive me God”.  Why not?  “Because I’m weak”.  Who told you are weak? What about My anointing I gave to you? 

 

There is no small or weak anointing but we try to bring ourselves down because we are weak but you are not weak, it’s just a matter of making a decision.  When you want to buy shoes, you will make a decision.  It’s up to you to know where to go from here.

 

David made that effort.  He had four stones left to kill.  What you have is more than sufficient.  God will tell you, “You still have four left if you use one”.  What excuse can I give to God?  If you are a sinner, yes, ask for forgiveness and move forward but we start to try to forget the number of stones we have.  We want to prove to God, I only have one stone, and I can’t talk because I stutter like Moses.

 

How many Goliaths do you have in your life, in your workplace, in your home?  Sometimes even your brain will challenge you.  I was born as the only boy in my family, I needed a brother so we could play.  Maybe Colleen is the only daughter and her brothers put her aside.  You feel it.  Whenever they are doing their own things, you can’t take part.  Those challenges will continue day after day but it is time now to defeat those challenges and remember we have the anointing and the role we used to play to look after the sheep is finished and our role now is a warrior and we have to fight. 

 

The warrior will not use a sword but a slingshot.  A sword means you have to come close but a slingshot can be from a distance.  Try to cut the stone with a sword.  No matter how weak you are, with your slingshot, you can defeat it in Jesus’ name.  Leave the problem, take distance and the problem will collapse.  Although Goliath was taller, it didn’t take long to fall down.  The strongest man was killed by the weakest person of the entire nation of Israel.  We are all stronger than David, physically, spiritually, mentally.  The anointment came once.

 

God gives you the anointing every single day in the Holy Spirit to teach you, guide you and He is living in you.  It is not like David who had two drops of oil on his head.  Who is that Goliath that will resist you?  Only if you refuse to take control or make a decision or effort. 

 

The son of David is Jesus.  David didn’t give birth to Jesus.  Jesus came down to save Israel and then He brought food for us (bread and wine which is His body and blood) and He told us to take it and eat but we are in a battle field, “I’m coming to see how you are doing down here, it’s not your battle, it belongs to me”.  Your sickness, worries, money problems, just say in Jesus’ name and it will be won.

 

We go to our friends and ask for help while God is looking at you and says, “You have enough, you don’t need a sword or to wear what Saul is wearing before you fight”.

 

Pray and tell God, “Make me a warrior, change my status, I don’t want to be a shepherd taking care of useless things, I should take care of Your nation and take care of Your work because you anointed me to be a part of your family and your work”.

"This I know, that God is for me" Psalm 56:9

by Hayley Boud

Most of the time human beings think that God is for me when we are blessed according to what we consider a blessing.  God is for me when I pass my exams, or God is for me when I get a new job, or God is for me when I get healed.  So when we read this Psalm, we might think that David wrote it when everything was perfect in his life. Yet, it was the exact opposite.  David was crossing a difficult time in his life.

Before we begin discussing the verse and the actual situation that David was facing, let’s first look at where David had come from.  David was a simple shepherd boy that no one even noticed.  According to the Bible he was ruddy which apparently means he had healthy complexion.  I suppose I would like to be remembered as looking healthy rather than sickly but if I were a man, I think I would rather be remembered for being handsome or strong.  So obviously there was nothing remarkable about David as a boy.  But then, Samuel (Priest and Prophet) anoints him to be the future king of Israel to the surprise of even his own father.  Then poor David is sent to give food to his brothers and when he sees Goliath, he believes he can fight him but instead of being encouraged, his brother misinterpret him and tell him he’s  conceited with an evil heart.  Imagine being told by your own brother that you have a wicked heart and you are conceited while you genuinely want to serve God.  But we all know the story of how David killed the huge giant with a stone.  Then victory and David is glorified and people sing songs about him, he marries the king’s daughter and becomes the personal assistant of the king.  And just when David is getting settled into his new life, the king throws a spear at him.

 

The king had become jealous of David and wanted to kill him.  David’s life changed and now he was on the run.  He had to leave everything behind, his wife, his friends, his good food, nice bed and live in caves.

 

In 1 Sam 21:10-14, “That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’? David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

 

David goes to Gath – a city of Philistine where Goliath was from, carrying the sword of Goliath.  Could you do that?  Go into the city where people hate you?  In order to survive, he starts acting as a madman.  It sounds comedic but it wouldn’t have been funny at the time.  It would have been terrifying and hugely humiliating.  When I was very sick, I couldn’t remember things and I felt like such an idiot.  I couldn’t remember my birthdate or what simple words were like “oven”.  I remember asking someone, “what’s an oven?”  It was so humiliating to not know simple things.  How humbled was David at this point – to act like a madman.  The future king of Israel brought down to a VERY low point.  This is the man that God declares as a man after his own heart.  This doesn’t seem like a blessing.  It doesn’t seem like God is on his side.  Yet, being humbled is a blessing.  We all know the saying, “pride comes before a fall”.  When we are humbled, it is because God doesn’t want us to fall.  I was made sick because without that, I would have become the most proud person on earth – believing that sickness is only for weak people or for people who don’t have faith.  Praise God when we are humbled because this is a sign that God is for us.

 

When Peter was on the boat and Jesus was walking on water…Jesus said “come” and so he did.  He had so much courage and faith but somewhere, he started to fall and he had to cry out to Jesus to save him.  How humbling.  Imagine how much the disciples laughed at him, “ha ha, Peter, what happened?”  God calls us out and we believe we are going somewhere really good (like Peter – remember all the fish he caught in the boat and now God calling him on water) but then we start to fall and things get worse than before (like David – better to be at home as a simple shepherd than to be living in caves and in the wilderness) but remember when we cross those situations to be like Peter who cried out to Jesus to save him.  God saved him by holding on to his hand and that is exactly what He does for us.  Remember when we cross hard times to be like David and say, “this I know, God is for me” because those hard times are protecting us from pride and making us a new creation.

 

When we cross hard times be like David and take the time to talk to God.  Tell Jesus all about your situation as David did by writing  Psalm 56.

 

Psalm 56:1-2 Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack. My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride.

 

Fear is rising up inside of David, he is alone and cries out for mercy.  And then declares…

 

Verses 3-4 When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?  

 

When we are afraid, the only place to turn is God.  I remember one time driving over the Kaimais at 10pm at night and the fog was so thick I had to drive at 10km an hour and I could only see a few centimetres of the white line at a time and I just kept following it.  I was so afraid my whole body was shaking because I could have gone over the cliff at any moment.  I just kept saying, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” over and over because it was the only thing I could do.  I could only cry out to God and He was the only One I could trust during that time.  During those times, we have faith to believe that God is for us.

 

Whatever you are crossing right now, you may have worries or fears but put your trust in God and know that God is for you.  You might be worried about your health, your job, your family, your finances, your studies…trust in God.  And as the verse says, Praise Him.  Keep your eyes on God and worship Him no matter what is going on around you.  As the song says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus….and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”.  But when we take our eyes of Christ and start looking around us…we start to doubt again…

 

Verses 5-7 All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life. On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, bring down the nations.

 

 One minute David is declaring ‘What can mortal man do to me’ and the next minute he’s talking about what they will do.  We have faith that God will take care of us and then suddenly we get a power bill and we freak out over whether we can pay it.  We have faith that God will take care of us and then we get a health scare and freak out…what if it is cancer?  We have faith until we use our physical eyes to see what is going on around us.  Just like Peter walking on water.  He had so much faith to jump on the waves when he saw Jesus walking on water but then he looks around and realises what he is doing.  He starts to fall but he knew where to find help…he cried out to Jesus. 

 

When we feel doubts creeping in, when we start to worry or feel afraid, remember…

 

 Verses 8-9 You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.

 

This verse has got me through many trials.  When I cry I remember that God is saving my tears in a bottle and He is for me.  As human beings, we think that blessings must always be good according to us.  Blessings can also be difficult times that we face.  This is a blessing for our soul.  When we are transformed into a new creations, this is a blessing. This is a better blessing than material things which only last for a short time while we are on earth.  The difficulties we face don’t seem like a blessing but they are because they make us into the kind of Christian that God is proud of.

 

During our difficult times, times where things feel so uncertain and we start to doubt (like Peter on the water), the only thing we can know for sure is that God is for me.  We might not know the future, or why we are crossing this hard time, but we can know for sure that God is for me.

 

Verses 10-13 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise— in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. 

 

When we feel doubts rising in us, take the time to read the Word of God and the promises that are in it.  When we feel ourselves falling down (like Peter) cry out to God, worship Him and tell Him exactly what we are facing (like David) and then remind ourselves, that God is for us.

 

 

 

The Crown is Finally Given

By Odon Bulamba (20th November 2011) summary only

“After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days….“So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.” II Samuel 1:1,10

David was the last born of a family consisting of 8 boys. He was skinny and maybe weak but he was very intelligent and he had sharp eyes and yet he was somehow considered useless according to his father. His father gave him the job of shepherd while his brothers went to train in the army. Because he was looking after the flock of his family, he was sure that if he did it properly, he would be rewarded but all he got was a nice coat and some milk. David had to look after the flock, face lions and other dangerous animals without a gun or arrow or javelin and this was a big responsibility.

Samuel was sent to find a king from the family of Jesse. Samuel knew there was already a king (Saul) and that he might be killed for choosing someone to replace him. God told Samuel to tell Saul that he had to go somewhere to make a sacrifice to God.

When Samuel saw Jesse, he knew that the time had come to put oil on someone’s head; the anointment is here. The first son of Jesse was big and strong and Samuel thought, ‘yes, this must be the one that God has chosen as king’ but God rejected him and all is other brothers. Then Samuel asked, ‘isn’t there anyone else’ and Jesse said there was another son out with the sheep. Maybe Jesse was ashamed of David and didn’t want Samuel to see him because he was weak and he couldn’t imagine that someone so weak could become king. Sometimes we too feel rejected and pushed out.

God said, ‘bring that man, he is the one’. Sometimes when we are rejected by others, God brings us close and anoints us. The blessing you have compared to others, your neighbour and other people around the world is greater (eg. some people have never seen a cell phone or even stepped inside a car – you have been blessed). Some people work very hard with no blessing while others try something small and the blessing flourishes.

David was chosen and if I was David I would say, ‘hey, I’m a king now, I’m different to you, I’m not looking after the sheep anymore’ but David didn’t, he continued to look after the sheep. Imagine that God has chosen you as a leader but God hasn’t given you any advisers except your sheep. Sheep only baa, there is no other language and some people are like sheep, the only language they have is complaints or arguing.

Jesse continued to expect David to watch the sheep while his brothers were being trained in the army. Sometimes people try to put barriers in your place so you can’t progress. Sometimes you know God has chosen you but people tell you to wait, sometimes because people are jealous.

David was sent by his father to take food to his brothers and although he knew that he was a king, David was a good boy and never said no.

Goliath was a giant that the whole nation was afraid of and very often when we see a monster of a problem rising up (no money etc) don’t you sometimes feel like passing away with fear (when you see your bills and no way to pay them). You can see people losing control sometimes because of fear.

David didn’t fear, he said, “I can fight Goliath” and his brothers told him to be quiet. David had never used a sword or shield but as a shepherd he had learnt how to use a sling shot because of the danger. David also learnt how to play music and to sing while he watched the sheep eating.

David killed Goliath and although he was promised everything (including the king’s crown) he didn’t receive what was promised. This wasn’t the end of his mission. Later, Saul needed him to play music for the times when an evil spirit would attack him. One day Saul tried to kill him but he didn’t quit. What would you do? I’d call the police. Very often your boss is mean to you while you are trying to help the situation. The same person who employed you and thought you were useful is now mistreating you.

David eventually ran from Saul and became his opponent and had to fight for his life. Where is God in all of this, wherever David goes Saul is attacking him.

In life, there is pain, even if we are the winner. If we win a boxing match, we will still feel the pain of being punched, even though we won. If we win a marathon, we will still feel the pain. You will never be a winner without pain, without going through a battle, without going through suffering.

Later, David fought a battle and won and all the soldiers came home with victory but they still had the cuts and bruises and broken bones. Once they arrived home, their family members were gone and everybody blamed David for they had been kidnapped. Imagine everybody against you, how would you feel? Have you ever faced a problem with someone in your family or a close friend? This is the hardest kind of problem, when someone close to you is against you.

David encouraged the soldiers to go after their families. Some were unable to continue the journey due to the pain and tiredness from the first battle but others kept on the journey despite the pain.

Then at Ziklag, Saul is killed and the crown is taken and after many years given to David. Sometimes we fight something for a number of years and we keep praying with no answer and we feel like giving up. We start to doubt that God gave the promises and sometimes we fight and win the battle but there is no crown; God doesn’t answer at the right time for us and we start to doubt and think that God is not on our side.

Finally David became king but in a way that was not expected (normally the person who kills the king will become king or the person who is next in line). Your crown will come sometimes in a different way than you expect. God may bring you the answer from a different direction. Are you ready to receive the crown? Then be a good fighter and remember your time on earth is short, so be a hard worker and become what God wants you to become.

David didn’t know all the rules of being a king (how to sit, eat, etc) and we also might not know the entire Bible but we can use what we have and remember we belong to God.

How would you prepare for the queen of England to sleep at your house? Would you let her see every room? Would she be allowed to sit in every chair? What food would you present to her? How have we prepared our body for the Holy Spirit? What room will we give Him? Is there a clean room? If not, why can’t we just make it clean?