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1 Sam. 17:4-11 - Then…came …Goliath, from Gath,…. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. "If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us." Again the Philistine said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together." When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. NASU
He is remembered because he had hope, faith, and trust in the Lord God Almighty. He never doubted God could use him to defeat Goliath. He was not afraid of Goliath, like his brothers, King Saul and the rest of the Israelite Army. He was a boy guided by faith, not fear. Here is what he says in Psalm 25:1-2 - To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust,… David's faith, hope, and trust were in the Lord, but this was not the case for King Saul and the rest of the Israelite Army. They trusted in themselves and when you make that mistake you will be dismayed and greatly afraid anytime an enemy appears.
Look what David says about God in I Sam. 17:34-37 - But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God." And David said, "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." David trusted his God and was victorious. There are plenty of enemies in this world trying to get us to take our eyes off God and be filled with fear. If you want to overcome fear, there is a very simple way and that is to put your trust in God exactly like David did. Think About This: Feed your faith the Word of God and fear will starve to death. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Titus 2:11-14 - For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. NASU
It is my desire everyone who is reading this Pump Up will desire to be saved. If you're not already a follower of Jesus Christ what are you waiting for? What will a follower of Jesus look like? A follower of Jesus Christ will do their best to imitate Him. They will deny ungodliness and worldly desires. They will live sensibly, display righteousness and try to represent God as the Holy Spirit leads them. They will be constantly on the lookout for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and ever thankful for being redeemed from their sinfulness.
Did you grasp the impact of his definition? There are many religions teaching salvation is by works that we can do. I totally refuse to believe this false teaching. The works we are saved by is what Jesus Christ did for us. He left the glories of heaven. He put on a human body with all of its limitations. He was never hungry or tired when He was God in Heaven. He was never tempted when He was God only, but all of these limits and many many more He became acquainted with because He became flesh. He was 100% God and 100% human at the same time. He lived a sinless life and died a horrible death on a cross after being flogged. This is what God has done for us and this my friends is Grace. We didn't do anything to deserve it yet it is there for us. Chose wisely my friends, chose to participate in receiving the Grace of God. Don't act as you don't need the Grace of God. We all need the Grace of God and it will only be available for you until you die or Jesus returns. Think About This: If I am not displaying grace to others then have I forgotten the grace that was shown to me? Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Matt 4:1-4 -Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" NASU
Therefore temptation and sin cannot be the same thing. When you are tempted don't succumb to the thinking well I have been tempted I might as well do it. No. Just because you have been tempted that doesn't mean you might as well participate in sinning that is known as faulty thinking. Temptation is NOT the same as sinning.
Do you want to defeat the temptations the devil throws at you? Then know the Word of God that pertains to your specific temptation. Let me give you an example: suppose you have had a problem with " lying, anger, stealing, or profanity". The apostle Paul gives us a scripture for us to memorize when any of those four temptations come after you. Ephesians 4:25-29 - Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. We are told not to lie. Lay it aside or have nothing to do with lying and speak the truth. Maybe you have had a problem with anger. Well, good news, being angry is not a sin, but what you do with that anger or what you allow the anger to do to you might lead you into sin. Be angry Paul says, but don't sin. If you have had a problem with stealing as some did in Ephesus. Paul informs those who stole to "steal no longer". How is your speech? Is it filled with profanity, or maybe you are a gossip, a slanderer, or a backbiter? All of these are unwholesome ways your words can be used and they are not to proceed out of the mouth of a Christian.
Know the Word of God and when you are tempted, you can defeat that temptation by applying the Word to that specific situation. Think About This: By yielding to temptation one may lose in a moment what it took a lifetime to acquire. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 8:33 - They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?" NASU
The Jews here are participating in "selective memory". They are saying they have never been enslaved to anyone. Really! Just saying something doesn't make it TRUE. If I were Jesus, I would have asked them if they have ever heard of Egypt, have they ever heard of Moses, have they ever heard of the Red Sea, or have they ever heard of the 10 plagues upon Egypt? The Israelites were enslaved by Egypt for over 400 years. The entire book of Exodus is all about Moses getting the Israelites out of this Egyptian bondage. Now, these Pharisees said, "They have never been enslaved to anyone." Yet, the truth of the matter is they have been enslaved, AND they are enslaved right now by the Roman Empire. They are lying to themselves. Just saying something doesn't make it TRUE.
Romans 6:5-7 - For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin… Galatians 4:6-8 - Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. I am just the opposite of those Pharisees for I have been enslaved. I was a child of the devil, something I hate to say, but it was true. When God's Spirit was not in my life I did some very horrible things. If any of you are reading this Pump Up and I did something to you before I became a Christian (3-2-1975) please accept my apology. I genuinely ask for your forgiveness.
Romans 6:2-5 - How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,… When I was baptized into Jesus Christ I was baptized into His death and when I was raised up from the watery grave it was my first resurrection. I was now no longer a slave to sin. If you remember the story of the Israelites enslavement as they were leaving Egypt they walked on dry land but they were surrounded by water. There was the Red Sea on their right and left sides and a cloud (which is made up of water) over them. Below is how the apostle Paul said it: 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 - For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;… I find it pretty cool that God freed us both using baptism. The Israelites were freed from bondage using Moses' baptism and today we are freed from the bondage of our sins through Christ's baptism. You can be freed from your sins also. Think About This: There are thousands of ways of pleasing God, but none without trusting Him. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Gen. 15:1 - After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great."
I can remember my first fight like it was yesterday. It was before school started and we were on the playground awaiting the bell to sound to be permitted to go inside the building. I was crossing the monkey bars when the school bully got on from the opposite side. You know the side that didn't have a long line of kids waiting to go across. Halfway across we met and he told me to, "Get out of his way". I said, "Go to the end of the line like the rest of us". He started to say something and I wrapped my legs around his waist and started to squeeze. He let go of the bars and now I had him swinging below me and I unwrapped my legs and he hit the ground with a thud. The bully started to cry and I finished going across the monkey bars. He slowly got up off the ground. He was crying and went home. He told his mom some story because once we were in our homerooms my name came across the loudspeaker to report to the office.
When I walked into the office, the school bully and his mom were sitting there and I remember her screaming at him, "This is the little s*** that beat you? Then she smacked him on the back of his head. I went in and told the Principal my side of the story and then went back to my class. I would like to say that it ended there and that was it, but the next morning before school started on the playground there was the bully. He told me, "His mom told him that he had to kick my a**." The next thing I knew he started swinging both of his arms like a windmill. I took one step to my left and hit him between the eyes with my right hand. He went down and started crying again, only this time there was blood all over his face. Yes, my name came over the loudspeaker again that morning and yes, I had to make the long walk to the Principal's office. I had to explain what happened on the playground again. I didn't get in trouble and was told to go back to my class. The principal then said something I could never understand, He said, "I don't want to see you back in here again. Do you understand?" I kept saying to myself, "I didn't want to be in there in the first place, but neither did I want to get beat up and pushed around by the school bully either."
If you are like most guys, we have grown up fighting and protecting ourselves and it becomes quite a challenge to allow God to be our Shield. God tells Abram that He will be his Shield. Abram had just been victorious over the kings that had kidnapped his nephew. One has to wonder did Abe believe God had helped him or that he accomplished this victory on his own. Melchizedek informs Abram that God is the One who delivered his enemies into his hands (Gen.14:20). God will be our Shield but we have to realize this fact. We have to let God be the Shield He has promised us that He will be. We must believe like Abram that God was his shield and protector. I can almost guarantee you that you will encounter something in life that even you will need to have God be your Shield. Why not grow accustomed to it now before that day arrives and you are unfamiliar with how to bow your knee to your King the one who has promised to be your Shield.
Think About This: How many times has God already been our shield and we didn't even realize it? Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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