Kissed by the Spirit

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Matthew 13:44 (NAB)

Jesus is basically telling us that we’re meant to have such a desire for Heaven, that we would give up all other things just to have it. The kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God were phrases used interchangeably by Jesus, in the same conversation, and the Bible scholars say they mean the same thing. In some places of scripture, the kingdom refers to that place in another dimension, where saints, angels and the souls of the redeemed live in God’s presence. 

In another scripture, Jesus said “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21)

Here, Jesus referred to a kingdom that is the invisible presence of God, which dwells in us by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit in us, is what keeps God at the center of our motives, thoughts and actions, in this present life. 

The kingdom of Heaven can mean that other dimensional place or the Spirit working within us here and now. Either way, it’s a treasure that is buried. It’s buried because we cannot physically see it, but it leaves us so much to think about. 

Jesus wants us to desire God’s Heavenly kingdom more than anything, so that our greatest desires will be for the things that money cannot buy in this world.  

It’s difficult to desire a kingdom we cannot physically see, since it’s invisible. The true stories of people’s near death experiences, can open our minds to get a glimpse of that unseen kingdom.

There was a man named Howard, who once lost consciousness and collapsed. He had a near death experience (NDE), where he saw his body on the ground, surrounded by paramedics trying to resuscitate him. He watched his body as his soul was floating upward, towards a bright light that eventually led him to a brief vision of Heaven. While he was there, he had a “Life review”, and saw highlights of his whole life played back, in the form of a movie documentary. 

Howard had a long career as an art professor, and was in fact, a color specialist in the field of art. After his resuscitation, he recovered but never forgot his brief vision of Heaven. He saw colors that he never saw before, which he had no name for, despite being a color expert. He heard Jesus speaking to him, and woke up with a different outlook, a new awareness of God’s presence and a desire to serve Him for the remaining time of his life. 

Other people who had NDEs, had very similar experiences and though  every one seemed to last for hours, it was actually only a few minutes, until they were resuscitated. Heaven is truly a dimension outside of time or space. Those who died and briefly experienced Heaven, never find adequate words to compare it to anything in this present world. 

The interesting thing about NDEs is that every person expressed the same desire to stay there, and not return to their present life. In spite of their desire, they all recovered and lived out their lives with a positive difference.

Maybe that’s why Jesus described heaven as a place that someone would desire so much, that they would sell everything, in order to buy the field containing that hidden treasure. It is that precise treasure that motivates us to keep God at the center of our present lives. 

Peter describes an inheritance reserved in Heaven for us, where Jesus will one day be revealed to all, 

“Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.” (1 Peter 1:8)

Jesus once asked Peter three times in a row, if he loved Him, and I believe He is asking us something through His words in Matthew’s gospel about the kingdom of Heaven being a buried treasure. 

He is asking us “How much do you desire the treasure in this field ?“ As we keep our desires on the things money cannot buy, our response is, “Lord, you’re the treasure that I desire above all else.”

Lord, help us to remember that your kingdom is the greatest treasure and to center all of our hopes, thoughts and motives on you and in the unseen truths that you spoke about. Amen

“They returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Acts 14:21-22 (NASB)

I recently browsed through a Bible which I hadn’t looked at in years, since I’ve been reading the Bible on my iPhone for quite some time. I found it amusing to read what I once wrote on the inside binders of that old Bible. The neat handwriting of my younger days had inscribed tidbits of wisdom that I was learning at the time, along with favorite scripture verses that had impacted my life. 

That was the Bible I used from my college days throughout my first marriage and while raising my twin boys. While reading my hand written notes, I was reminded of the different phases of my life, all the while maintaining my relationship with Jesus. One of the verses I wrote on the inside binder of that Bible was today’s scripture verse, 

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” 

Whatever I was going through at the time, the circumstances always change over time, which is proof that every stage of life will have its own tribulations to contend with.

I turned to the 14th chapter of Acts, just to read and refresh my memory on the background of this specific scripture verse. The story was about Paul, successfully preaching the gospel in the city of Lystra, until the Jewish religious authorities of that area, came and convinced the crowd to stone Paul. He was stoned until he fell to the ground unconscious. His disciples and friends carried him away, assuming he was dead. 

Paul recovered and resiliently went on to preach in many more cities after that, but he returned to Lystra to strengthen the souls of those believers and to encourage them to continue in their faith. That’s the background for the scripture verse today. The believers in Lystra were inspired by Paul’s faith and probably very relieved to see that he was alive and well. 

The persevering spirit of Paul could be summed up in two words……

”Never stop.” He never stopped trusting God, never stopped continuing in his faith, and never stopped encouraging others to continue in their faith as well. His message to the city of Lystra is a timeless one for all Christians, that through many tribulations we will enter the kingdom of God. We can find courage and inspiration in Paul’s message, that whatever happens, “Never stop.”

Paul didn’t invest his hope in becoming popular or finding favor with the crowd. He knew how quick people could change and turn against him. In fact, Paul expected tribulations, and he survived many of them during his ministry. Just as the Lord gave Paul resilience, He wants to make us resilient as well. 

Thankfully, we are not likely to be stoned, beaten or killed for our faith in this nation, but believers in countries like North Korea, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria and others, are suffering with imprisonment and death for their Christian faith. 

Christians today still suffer with various tribulations, though not always directly for their faith. They may lose friends for taking a different stand on ethical issues. Some are suffering with medical problems, or have a loved one who is terminally ill. They might be grieving over prematurely losing a loved one, while some are dealing with chronic mental health battles, which can be harder on one’s spirit and soul than physical suffering is.

As we reflect on our own lives over the past decades, we have all had ups and downs, wins and losses, blessings and hardships, but Jesus is forever our rock and our refuge, the One who makes us resilient as He did for Paul. He walks with us through every tribulation, giving us the resilience to never stop believing, and inspiring us to encourage others to continue in their faith. 

That scripture verse written in the binder of my old Bible, are words that are relevant for all believers, of all times, so that we will keep pressing on, and never stop, because the Lord is with us through every tribulation, leading us on to the kingdom of God.

Lord, thank you for giving us the resilience to continue in faith, by trusting you, and help us to encourage others who are facing tribulations, leading us all to the kingdom of God. Amen 

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Romans 11:29 (NASB)

There is a popular Christian proverb, “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”

God has called each of us to do something good for His kingdom, and regardless of how many times we fail or become distracted on our faith journey, His calling never changes. There are examples throughout scripture of people God called to do a great task even though they were weak, arrogant or completely unqualified for the job. It’s a soul inspiring truth.

God has a long history of using flawed people to do important tasks. It seems like a paradox, but there are many stories in scripture, about people who were called by God, even though they were weak, flawed or selfish, and yet God used them in great ways. Despite our human failures, the calling of God is an irrevocable one.

If we ever feel unqualified to do a job that we were asked to do for our church or in another ministry, we can remind ourselves of the following men in scripture. God selected many unlikely people to fulfill important  tasks. He chose people we would never choose, if it were based on their resumes. 

Moses once killed an Egyptian taskmaster and then fled as a fugitive into the wilderness. God called him through a fiery burning bush, to lead 600,000 people out of slavery from Egypt. Moses had some type of speech problem, possibly a stutter, telling the Lord that he was the wrong man to ask, since he was slow of speech and slow of tongue.  (Exodus 4:10)

He proved to be a great leader with courage, patience, and faith despite his shortcomings and past history. 

Balaam was a prophet, who sought his own personal advancement. He delivered many messages in God’s name, while cursing groups of people, who God never told him to curse. He did it for personal gain by seeking the political approval of bad men who were in powerful positions. 

One day, God sent an angel to stop him from delivering another false prophecy. Balaam didn’t see the angel but his donkey did, and God gave the donkey the ability to talk back to Balaam, which changed his heart, and led him to prophesy only what God commanded him to say, from that day on. (Numbers 22:30)

Jonah was an arrogant man, and yet he was called by God to go to the city of Nineveh and preach a message of repentance to the Ninevite people. Jonah flat out refused to obey, because he didn’t think the Ninevites were worthy of God’s mercy. He booked a ride on a boat going in the opposite direction, far away from Nineveh. A storm arose, the ship almost sank, and one thing led to another, until a whale tossed Jonah onto the shores of Nineveh, the exact place he tried to run away from.  

It’s unbelievable that God used such flawed men to help large groups of people discover His mercy. The men who God called, learned their lessons in the end, and were changed, living their lives differently, but God had to use some unlikely things to get His point across to them, like a burning bush, a talking donkey and the belly of a whale.

We can also see God’s irrevocable calling on Peter, the apostle who is the rock of the church. Three times, he denied ever knowing Jesus, but it didn’t change the calling that God had for him. Just like Moses, Balaam and Jonah, God gave each man more than one chance to find their faith, stand corrected and be restrengthened. 

God is so good that He chooses to work within our flaws and failures, because that’s what it means to have an irrevocable calling by a God of love. The next time we want to turn down an opportunity that seems to require more than we are qualified for, we should remember that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. We serve an amazing God whose gifts and calling are forever irrevocable. 

Lord, thank you for your faithfulness,  even when we are faithless. Guide us in the path and direction that we were born for, and refresh in us, a renewed sense of our calling. Amen

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)

Paul encouraged the Ephesian church to keep praying for one another. It’s always good to pray for ourselves, but there is something special about church people who pray for one another. When believers agree together to intercede for someone else, powerful things start happening.

San Francisco General hospital once hosted a medical research study on prayer back in 1988, which was written up in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study took 393 patients who had heart attacks, and were under the same standard of cardiac care, but separated them into two groups. Both groups continued to be treated medically, but only half of the group were regularly prayed for. It was a double blind study, where the “prayed for” group didn’t even know that they were being prayed for. Their first names were given to various prayer teams across the country, who knew nothing about the people whose names they received, but the prayer teams prayed daily for them for four straight weeks. 

The prayer intercessor teams were from across the country, and came from a variety of Christian faiths. They were nondenominational, Episcopalian, Roman Catholics, Baptists and other Protestant groups. The prayer intercessors were ordinary people who regularly attended church and had long established habits of daily prayer.

After four weeks, the group of patients who were being prayed for, had 3 times less complications and a significantly higher survival rate than the group that was not prayed for. The study results suggested that remote, intercessory prayer along with standard medical treatment yields the best outcome. 

I used to think that being prayed for in person brought the best results, but this study proved that praying for people we may never see, is equally as powerful as for those we do see. After reading about this prayer study, I have a whole new respect for prayers offered remotely, through prayer lists, whether a prayer list is in a church, a TV or radio station, or a faith based prayer or Bible study group. Paul told the Ephesians to pray for all kinds of requests, on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers, which covers it all. 

Maybe it should be a priority to add names to prayer lists wherever they may be, and never underestimate the power of remote, intercessory prayer made on behalf of others. 

Lord, deepen our faith to trust that you read every name on every prayer list, and help us to trust the power of remote prayer for all requests, on all occasions, with all types of prayer. Amen

“And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”

Galatians 6:9 (RSV)

My family is from Chicago, but after my widowed mother retired, she relocated to Huntington Beach, California. My brother was already living there, working for Boeing as an Aerospace engineer, and she decided that it would be a sunny, warm place to spend her retirement years. She made the right choice and lived there for 30 years, making many new friends, and we had enjoyable visits together over the years. 

She enjoyed a 90th birthday party, in her California home, joined by family and friends who flew in to celebrate that special day with her. She was so fortunate to be able to continue living independently and in good health, at her age. She was doing well until the day she tripped and fell, while walking to the nearby grocery store. She broke her wrist in that fall, and became too fearful to venture outside after that. It wasn’t long after her wrist injury, that my brother and I noticed a big change in her mental status, as she was becoming increasingly confused. 

She was a long time recipient of a daily meal from “Meals on wheels.”On a minor holiday, when no meal was delivered, in her confusion, she called 9-1-1, to urgently report that no one brought her a meal that day. 

The Huntington Beach police department sent two officers to her house. I learned afterward that those officers came to her door, and asked her what she would like to eat. Taking note of her request, they left and returned minutes later with a cheeseburger and french fries. 

(She declined a beverage, since she always kept beer in her refrigerator.)

My mother was unaware that she received a service that was far  outside the norm of a 9-1-1 call. In her dementia, she had unrealistic expectations of her local police department, but they came through 100%. When I later heard the story of how those policemen brought her a meal, I was so touched by their kindness that I wrote a letter to the police department, thanking them for going the extra mile. 

As her mental health worsened, we moved my mother back to Illinois, where she lived the rest of her life with my husband and me. We gave her a 92nd birthday party in my home, and four months later, she passed away peacefully in her sleep. 

That was over nineteen years ago, but I will never forget the kindness of those police officers who went far beyond their job description, to make a kind but confused old lady, happy. 

As today’s scripture says, those who do not grow weary in doing good, will reap in due season. I trust that those officers have reaped their rewards for the exceptional kindness they showed that day.

Today is my mother’s birthday, and since she also went the extra mile in doing good and caring for others, I believe she reaped her rewards in due season, both in this life and in eternity. 

God has established natural laws of life, in the sowing and reaping of the rewards for acts of kindness, not only in heaven, but in this present life as well. Stories like this, teach us to press on, and not lose heart. We may have moments of growing weary in doing good for others, but there will be a day of reaping for all who continue to sow seeds of kindness. 

Lord, thank you for going far beyond the extra mile for us, by offering yourself for our salvation. Help us to not grow weary in doing good, so that we may reap blessings in this life as well as in eternity. Amen

“Fear not, for I am with you,

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10 (RSV)

Some readers may remember last year I shared the story of a high school friend who moved to Israel decades ago. We grew up on the same block in the city of Chicago,  but as a child, Larry was hit by a car and hospitalized with a brain injury. 

After waking up from an eight week coma, he survived and was able to finish high school. He walks with a limp and has a weak right arm. It could be why he took a special interest in praying for my son when he heard about his accident. 

In September 2022,  Larry went on an African safari vacation. One rainy day, he slipped and fell, dislocating his shoulder. The local ER doctor in Africa attempted to realign his shoulder, but it left his left arm totally paralyzed. The sad part is that his right arm was already weak with a tremor, as a result of his childhood injury, but now he had two disabled arms.

Larry told me that today’s scripture verse, Isaiah 41:10 was what inspired him, when he was at his lowest point. He required daily assistance from a caregiver, but that scripture gave him hope, believing God was upholding him with His right hand. I was surprised to hear it because that has also been one of my favorite scripture verses as well. It’s comforting to imagine God or Jesus upholding us with His right arm. 

After physical therapy for the past few years while living in Israel, Larry is recovering very well. He no longer needs a caregiver and is able to move that arm again. When I wrote about this last year, some of you told me you were praying for him, so I wanted to let you know that your prayers were answered. 

There is a special grace in scripture which can draw us closer to God. I have experienced it in my own life, and was pleased to learn that Larry found strength in his Jewish faith through the same scripture. God’s word works His purpose in all people who seek Him.

The Lord motivates people, inspiring prayers on one another’s behalf. We should never underestimate the power of prayer, especially when we trust in the victorious right hand of Jesus. 

Lord, we trust that your right hand is reaching out to uphold and strengthen every person in this meditation group, in whatever they are struggling with. Bring healing, purpose, power and prosperity to all of our lives. Amen

“If I forget you, Jerusalem,

 may my right hand forget its skill.”

Psalm 137:5 (NIV)

For a moment, forget about all the wars and violence in the Middle East,  past or present, in order to meditate on what Jerusalem has meant to all believers throughout the centuries. In other words, let’s recenter ourselves on our Jerusalem state of mind. 

“Yerushalayim,” as pronounced in Hebrew, means “Foundation of peace.”  It’s the physical place on earth, where the story of salvation all began. God connected with mankind in a way that He never did before, when Jesus became the incarnate, final sacrifice for our atonement, bringing true peace to all who believe in Him.

Jerusalem was known for the great temple built by King Solomon 967 years before Jesus came into the world. Solomon prayed, asking God to grant the prayer requests of all who prayed facing the temple in Jerusalem.
(1 Kings 8:29-30)

To this day, people pray facing east, toward the site of the only remnant of that temple, still standing in Jerusalem today, called the Western wall. 

We no longer need to stand at the temple site or look toward the east when we pray, because the first step to a Jerusalem state of mind is knowing that we have someone greater than the temple, living within us. So we pray from wherever we are, asking everything in Jesus’ name, just as He told us to do.

Jerusalem is also the place where Jesus wept over those who were unwilling to be gathered to Him. A Jerusalem state of mind empathizes with God’s love and laments over those who reject Him. 

(Matthew 23:37-39)

On His way to Jerusalem, ten lepers approached Jesus, begging Him to heal their leprosy. Jesus healed all ten of the lepers, yet only one leper returned to Jesus, bowing down in worship, to thank Him. 

In a Jerusalem state of mind, we think like that one leper who returns to God in gratitude to worship and thank Him.

A person’s destiny can change for the better, in an instant, like the woman who had a twelve year hemorrhage, but was instantly healed with one touch of Jesus’ garment. Others lived in bondage for years, until Jesus rebuked their demons and set them free. A Jerusalem state of mind recalls every turning point in our lives when we were touched by Jesus, and set free from years of suffering or guilt. 

Jerusalem is a place of beginnings and endings, where Jesus ate the last supper, but talked about a new heaven and a new earth. It’s where we received the first installment of the hope and promise of our own bodily resurrection one day. A Jerusalem state of mind is the spiritual place where our faith and our choices today, determine the rewards of our eternal destiny.

When we try too hard to fit into this present world, Jerusalem reminds us that our true citizenship is in heaven. (Philippians 3:20)

Until then, we center ourselves on a Jerusalem state of mind, which is as near to us as our right hand. 

We can never forget the lessons of Jerusalem or the words that Jesus spoke, saying, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” A Jerusalem state of mind is where we find our rest in Jesus. It’s where we express our gratitude for how He loves, heals and forgives us, recalling those turning points when He touched our life and set us free. Then, like that one leper, we keep returning to bow before Him, in thanksgiving and praise. 

Lord, as we center ourselves on our Jerusalem state of mind, help us to find our rest in you, filled with faith and gratitude, as we remember all the ways you have touched our life and set us free. Amen 

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Romans 11:29 (NASB)

This is one of my favorite scripture verses, and one of the reasons my license plate reads ROMNS 11. God has called each of us to something good, and regardless of how many times we fail or become distracted on the journey, His calling is still irrevocable, which I find to be a soul inspiring truth.

God has a long history of using arrogant and flawed people to do His will, and reveal His grace to those who need it most. It’s seems like a paradox, but there are many stories in scripture, about people called by God, who were selfish, arrogant or weak, and yet they were used to accomplish God’s will. Despite our human failures, the calling of God is an irrevocable call.

God chose people who we would never choose, if it were based upon their resumes. He chose Moses, a murderer and a fugitive, to deliver 600,000 people, leading them out of the bondage by pleading with the ruler of Egypt, a super power nation in the world at the time. Moses proved to be a leader of courage, faith and patience, despite his past history. 

Balaam was a prophet, who sought his own personal advancement. He delivered messages in God’s name, while cursing groups of people, who God never told him to curse. He did it to gain the political approval of men in powerful positions. One day, Balaam was on his way to give another false prophecy, when God sent an angel to stop him on the road. Balaam didn’t see the angel but his donkey did. God gave his donkey the ability to talk back to Balaam, which changed his heart, leading him to prophesy only what God commanded him to say, from that day onward. (Numbers 22:30)

Jonah was an arrogant man, yet he was called by God to go to the city of Nineveh and preach a message of repentance to the people who lived there. Jonah refused to obey God, because he didn’t think the Ninevites were worthy of God’s mercy. So he booked a cruise going in the opposite direction, far from Nineveh. A storm arose and the ship almost sank, and one thing led to another, which involved a whale, until Jonah was tossed onto the shores of Nineveh, the exact place he tried to run away from.  

Jonah finally did what God asked him to do, and the Ninevites responded in great numbers to Jonah’s preaching. Even after an outpouring of grace among the Ninevites, Jonah remained angry at God, for showing mercy to a group of people that he absolutely despised. 

It’s unbelievable that God used such flawed men to help others find His grace and mercy. The men who God called, all learned their lesson in the end, and lived their lives differently, but God had to use some unlikely means to reveal His will to them.

These examples reveal the grace and mercy of God in His irrevocable calling. He uses imperfect people, and never changes His mind based on our flaws or shortcomings. Even if we wander off the path for a season, it never changes the original calling God has on our lives. His calling is truly irrevocable. 

We can also see this with Peter, the rock of His church, who once denied knowing Jesus three times, but it didn’t change the calling that God had for him. Peter, like Moses, Balaam and Jonah, had more than one chance to renew his faith and be restrengthened. God shows us that He works within our flaws and failures, because the calling of God is irrevocable. It is written that where “sin increases, grace abounds all the more.” (Romans 5:20)

What a beautiful God we serve. 

Lord, thank you for your faithfulness,  even when we are faithless. Guide us in the path and direction that we were born for, and refresh in us, a renewed sense of our calling. Amen

“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”

John 2:11 (NIV)

How special wine is, to be chosen as the first public miracle to reveal the glory of Jesus to others. The miracle of changing water into wine, served the purpose of spreading even more joy at an already joyful event. 

In all other miracles, Jesus met basic human needs, such as hunger, in feeding the five thousand, or relief of suffering, like healing the blind, the lepers, paralytics or setting the demoniacs free. All of the miracles of Jesus met a desperate need of some kind, except the miracle of turning water into wine. The miracle at Cana was different. 

No one was dying of thirst, no one was sick or suffering with pain or illness at the wedding of Cana. Wine wasn’t even a food staple required for daily nutrition. It was simply a product that enhanced a celebration of joy. Jesus chose to reveal His divinity to the world for the first time, with joy, through the gift of wine. So, His first miracle was not about healing, nutrition or deliverance. It was the gift of joy. 

When we think about the planning on God’s part, in choosing a miracle of wine to reveal His Son to the world, there should be no doubt that God considers joy to be more important, than we realize. The thing about joy is that it’s not only important to receive it, but to spread it to others. 

One day last week, I was walking out of a Target store, carrying my bag of groceries. As I headed toward the exit door, I passed the cafe area, and a frail looking old man was sitting by himself at a table. He glanced up at me, and although I never saw him before, for some reason I decided to smile at him. He immediately shouted, “Thank you for smiling !”

I was so surprised that a common smile would mean so much. I started to think of how many lonely people are all around us every day, as we go about our daily errands. Since that day, I am more conscious and aware that a smile can be a huge gift to someone. 

That experience fine tuned my sensitivity to the strangers who are around me every day. If a smile can be a gift of joy to a stranger, there is deeper meaning to Jesus changing water into wine, and adding more joy to that wedding feast in Cana. 

At the Nursing Facility I visit regularly, there is a young catatonic woman who is usually non verbal. She never talks or responds to anyone, except when a Neil Diamond song, “Sweet Caroline”, is played. All the residents would sing the refrain together and she joins in each time to sing along. That song brought so much joy to all the residents in the room, because of the joy of singing together in unison.  

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and God is always looking for ways to increase our joy. We are meant to have a healthy relationship with God, rooted in love, which brings a joy which we were meant to spread to others. Jesus said if we remain in His love, His joy will be full and complete in us. His joy is the kind of joy that also spreads His love. (John 15:11)

Our joy really matters to God and He wants us to spread it to others, as Jesus did at the first miracle at Cana. 

Lord, we pause to remember the first sign you performed which involved a gift of wine, and a celebration of joy. Make us aware of how we can spread your joy to others each day. Amen

“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

1 Samuel 17:45 (NIV)

Using a slingshot, guarding his flock from predators, playing the harp, writing and singing songs of praise, were all David’s natural gifts, but it required a supernatural gift of faith and courage to approach the nine foot giant, Goliath. David refused to wear heavy armor or to even carry a spear. He walked up to Goliath with a few stones and a slingshot, in simple confidence that God was with his chosen people. The Israelite army was terrified of Goliath, but God saw something in David, which was faith and genuine love for God and his people.  

There are many giants to fear in the world, but David had faith that he was a part of something bigger. God is always looking for some Davids, who believe they are a part of something bigger than the many things to fear all around us.

We are a part of the church, founded by Jesus, who promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. We may not have warrior skills, advanced weapons, the highest credentials of education, but like David, we stand in the name of Jesus, who leads us to victory. 

In spite of our fears and insecurities, God is with us as we rise up and become giant slayers. 

David never saw himself as a chosen “person”, but he knew he was a part of the chosen “people”, who received the promises of God made to Abraham. David’s confidence was rooted in every promise that the Lord made to Abraham.

His motive to defeat Goliath had nothing to do with bringing honor to himself, or to be hailed as a hero, but to bring honor and praise to the God of his people. As we read Peter and Paul’s epistles, we find in them, the same spirit of humility and the same giant slayer confidence that was in David. 

Peter reminds Christians of who we are as a people, saying, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that you may announce the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

(1 Peter 2:9)

Paul was a physically frail looking man, but his preaching was full of bold confidence. He said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?

Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. Who will condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” (Romans 8:31, 33-34)

Peter and Paul both spoke like giant slayers! 

Our confidence doesn’t come from our ego, or our personal capabilities, but in who we are in Christ. We are all a part of something much bigger than ourselves, which is the Church, chosen and founded by Jesus Christ, who told us in His own words that the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church. Jesus gave us a giant slaying promise to hold on to, so that we would think like giant slayers. 

We may stumble and fall, but we can still rise again, just like David and Peter both did. With faith, boldness and courage we will face every giant, not in our own strength, but in the power of His name.

We are a church full of Davids, and we have been given natural gifts to use, but also the gift of courageous faith. Even with our flaws, we will forever rise again in the resurrection power of Jesus, and slay every giant for the glory of God and the good of His holy church. 

Lord, thank you for raising us up over and again, as we stand confident in the power of your name against all our fears and insecurities. Make us giant slayers for the Kingdom of God. Amen