Video Link: https://youtu.be/ARNC5g6SySU?si=fwPyGM9Z3kWpdJ_r

So many times we get our identity from what others say and think about us and sometimes even from what we perceive others think of us. We can so easily get stuck in the self-made bondage of caring so much what others think. Our identity can also come from trauma, unhealed wounds, toxic relationships, lies, etc..

We need to be asking ourselves who God says we are? His opinion really is the only one that matters. When we really get this and really live by it our lives are drastically changed. We break out of the bondage of caring what everyone else thinks. That is true freedom.

The enemy tries to steal our identity and make us doubt who we are and feel worthless which leads to self-hatred, unforgiveness towards ourselves which opens the door to regret, condemnation, and shame. Lack of true identity can also derail us from the kingdom purposes of God. We can be so busy living in a less than state that we totally miss what God has for us. The enemy wants to make us powerless and completely miss our kingdom purpose and calling.

If we really want to know who God says we are we must ask Him and get into His Word. That is where we will always find truth.

Scriptures

He loves us.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are His children:

Ephesians 1:5 He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will—

He has given us power, love, and a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

We are made in His image.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”

He loves us so much that He gave His own Son so we could be saved.

John 3:16 “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish but have eternal life.”

We have been called out of darkness.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The Holy Spirit lives in us.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

We are new creations.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

We are the light of the world that shines the Light of Jesus in the dark places.

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

We do not ever have to walk in fear.

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—Whom shall, I fear? The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—Whom shall I dread?

He forgives our sins.

1 John 1:9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises] and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].

We have eternal life with Him.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are no longer slaves to sin.

Romans 6:6 We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.

He gives us hope.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

He makes our path straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

He is our Guardian.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you [setting you on a firm foundation] and will protect and guard you from the evil one.

We are made in His image.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”

We are His workmanship.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].

We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:13-14 For You formed my innermost parts; You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.

We all have the purpose and calling to be the light and salt to the world.

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how ^[a]can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a ^[b]hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a ^[c]basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

 

Ask Him to show you the specific character traits, gifts, and talents He has placed within and what kingdom purpose He has for you.

How to Walk His Identity

Lies

First, we need to strip off any lies that have attached to our identity.

We must focus on being who God says we are and understand anything else is a lie. The lies either come from ourselves or the enemy. We must combat them every single time they enter our minds. Our Creator is the only one who can speak to who we are. He even knows us better than we know ourselves. We cannot entertain the thoughts or allow them to linger, even for a moment. What we feed grows so we must feed our true identity and not lies.

Personal Attacks:  

Life will always be this way, you cannot change, you will never change no matter how hard you try, you should just give up because it is not going to change.

No one loves you, you are not worthy of love, and you can never be loved so you should build huge walls around your heart to protect yourself.

You are broken, you are to broken to do anything for the kingdom of God, you are damaged beyond repair, you will never be whole again so you might as well stop trying, and you cannot heal.

God does not love you, there is nothing you can do to make Him love you because something is wrong with you.

You cannot do anything right, everything you touch falls apart, you always fail, you are a loser.

You are not smart enough, you are slow, you make yourself look dumb when you try to do anything, people think you are dumb, just face it you are not smart so just stop trying to be.

God gave up on you, He did not keep you safe, He is not going to help you now, you are not worth His time.

You cannot do what God has called you to do because you are not good enough, not smart enough, not brave enough, not gifted enough, to old, to young, so just give up.  

Lies and deception can also cause us to constantly compare ourselves to others and always see our perceived lack.

Twisting of God’s Word:

God doesn’t care if you allow just a “little” sin into your life, He doesn’t care if you hold on to that “small” pattern of sin, God wants you to have a good time in life and have fun.

Sin is not really sin. The Bible is outdated so even if says things are sinful it was for then and not for now. As long as you “have Jesus in your heart” you are fine. The Bible doesn’t really pertain to us for todays time. It is old.

That married man/woman is for you. God sent them just for you. 

The Bible is progressive and it changes with the times.

It isn’t important to read the Bible. It is to hard to understand so you might as well not even try. You have a ton of other more important things to take care of.

Say a simple prayer and you are good, there is no need to change, you can live however you want to and you can still get to go to heaven. The road is not narrow. It is really easy to get into heaven. If you a good person you have nothing to worry about.

You need to work harder for God. In order to get into heaven you need to do more. Don’t focus of the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross instead just work harder. As a matter of fact it would be great if you make up your own rules to follow and the stricter the better! (Legalism).

False religions, false teaching, false move of the Holy Spirit, and mixing New Age with Christianity would also fall in this category.

Lies, Deception, and Twisting God’s Word Can Come Through

Trauma: Because of trauma we can begin to believe lies about ourselves, God, the world, and all future situations. We can then view all areas of our lives through the lens of those lies.

Self: Our minds can work overtime and think up all kinds of things that are not based in truth.  

Other People: We need to be really careful with the words we allow others to speak over our lives. If something is spoken that is not true we must be quick to disregard it.

Demons: They whisper to us, and we often mistake it for our own thoughts. If you can change it and make it stop, it is you. If not, it is more than likely demons.

Combating Lies, Deception, and Twisting of God’s Word

We are going to look at the example of Jesus.

Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’” ⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city [Jerusalem] and placed Him on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple. ⁶ And he said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You [to serve, care for, protect and watch over You]’; and ‘They will lift you up on their hands, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory [splendor, magnificence, and excellence] of them; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left Him; and angels came and ministered to Him [bringing Him food and serving Him].

How Jesus Responded:

He recognized the lies.

He called the lies out. He did not come into agreement with any of the lies.

He replaced the lies with the truth found in the Word of God.

He commanded the devil to leave.

What That Looks Like for Us:

Recognize the Lies: Sit with God and ask Him to begin to show you any lies that you have accepted as truth. Make a list of every lie. Part of learning to recognize the lies is understanding God will never contradict His Word. If It goes against His Word you can automatically know it is a lie.

Come Out of Agreement:  After have your list spend time coming out of agreement with every single lie and moving forward make sure you do not come into agreement with any more lies.

Agreement with lies means believing them and accepting them as truth.

Pray and ask God to break the agreement with the lie, uproot any effects or false beliefs connected to the lie, and heal any areas of your heart that need to be healed.

Verbally Break agreement with the lie. For example, “ Lord, please forgive me for believing the lie that (say the lie). I will no longer accept the lie as truth. It is a lie. So right now in the name of Jesus I break the agreement with (lie) and the truth is (speak the truth).”

Command any demon connected to the lie to go in the name of Jesus.

Moving forward take every single thought captive, every single time.  

2 Corinthians 10:5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ,

Replace Lies with Truth: Replace every single lie with truth found in God’s Word, every single time.

The only way to know truth is to read the Truth. There is only one infallible truth and that is God’s Word. Jesus combated the temptation/lies with the Word of God and was victorious. We must follow His example and do the same.

Spiritual warfare is a must.

Use this scripture for a filter for what we say and think:

Philippians 4:8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

Word of God

We can use the above list of scriptures to speak over our lives and find others that are meaningful. We must speak them, mediate on them, use them in prayer and also use them against enemy. When he tries to say who we are we can speak the Word of God right back to him and let him know who we really are. We must always combat lies with the truth found in the Word of God. When others try to tell us who we are we must make sure it lines up with the Word of God and if it doesn’t, we must dismiss it and not accept their label as truth. Labels are sticky so once we accept them they can be really hard to get rid of.

Our Past

We are not stuck in who we used to be. We can change and grow in the Lord by the renewing of our minds and maturity in the Lord. We are also not what has happened to us. We may have survived trauma, pain and hurt, but we do not have to accept the label of victim. We do not have to let what happened to us define who we are. That happened to us, in a moment in time, and it does not get to dictate who we are if we do not allow it. The enemy would love for us to get stuck in identifying as a victim, but that is a lie. We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. We do not have to get stuck in the past and it does not have to dictate our present or future.

Next:  Allow God to Refine You

Refiners Fire

Define

Malachi 3:2-3 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap [which removes impurities and uncleanness]. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi [the priests], and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord [grain] offerings in righteousness.

Zechariah 13:9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will listen and answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

How Silver is Refined

Silversmith starts with a hard rock that contains minerals.

Put in the fire to melt the silver and separate it from the rest of the material in the rock.

When molding the pieces of silver to make items.

They put the piece of silver in the middle of the fire where it is the hottest to burn away all the impurities. But if it stays to long it will ruin it and if it is not long enough it will not remove all the impurities. The temperature and length of time in the fire is very important. The silversmith must know what he is doing, or he will ruin the piece.

Purpose-To make us more like Him. To remove the things in us that are not from Him—sin, sinful patterns, and to crucify our flesh (fleshy desires). To create change us.

What it can look like in our lives: Sometime sit looks like painful situations, walking through things we do not want to walk through, feeling alone/isolated, misunderstood, abandoned.

It is also times of deep prayer, pouring our hearts out to God in repentance. Asking Him to remove anything in us that is not from Him.

Taking an honest look at our lives. Setting aside the urge to justify our actions and make excuses for our sinful patterns and behaviors. Getting real with ourselves and God.

Allowing Him to show us areas that need to change and then us choosing to change them. It can be very painful to take an honest look at ourselves. 

Fire is HOT and it is very uncomfortable.

Have you ever gotten to close to a fire?

Your start to sweat, your skin starts to tingle, then it starts to burn.

Our natural instinct is to get out and get out as fast as we can.

There have been times in my life I have prayed and prayed for God to make me more like Him, but then I start walking through the fire and I immediately ask Him to put the fire out. Either I don’t recognize it for what it is, or it is just too hot, and I don’t want it.

Not too long ago I had been praying for breakthrough in a specific area of change for my personal life. God spoke to me and said that I pray and pray, but as soon as He starts the process of change, I jump out and run.

The fire can be used to grow our faith-if we allow it

We choose to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh-we choose to change or remain the same.

God will not make us stay in the process.

1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Resist the urge to get out of the fire until He has done His work in you.

How to Experience God’s Refining Fire

Ask God to refine you. Our flesh does not want God’s refining fire so it will resist and there will be spiritual warfare because demons will always fight when we try get closer to God and be more like Him, but the process is so worth it. Do you want to be used by God? Do you want to be as close to Him as possible? Then let Him refine you with His fire.

Ask Him for the strength to stay in the process and lean on His strength and not yours. Memorize scriptures about His strength holding you up and speak to them out loud.

2 Corinthians 12:9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]

Fast. Fasting is something we can and should do in our Christian walk. Fasting means giving up something we desire as a sacrifice to God. If you are not familiar with the practice do a topical word search/study. I love to use openbible.info as a resource to look for scriptures on a specific topic. Most of us do not enjoy denying our flesh when we are fasting, but it is the quickest way to get our flesh issues out of the way, it helps us to better hear from God and puts us in a position to lay our will down at His feet.

Pray. Spend time seeking God. Don’t shut Him out of your life no matter what you are walking through. Bring more to Him than a list of wants. There is nothing wrong with giving Him a list of your prayer request, but that is not the only aspect of prayer. Prayer is two-way communication with God. We talk and He talks. We need to learn to sit in His presence and wait on Him. We need to slow down, quiet our mind (not empty in a New Age meditation way), but slow the racing thoughts and just be with Him.

We are in a relationship with God and no relationship can survive without communication. If we are never talking to Him, we are not really in a relationship with Him. I think about couples who are so in love when they first start out, but then they have kids. The kids become the focus. Once the kids are grown and out of the house the parents look at each other and they are strangers because they did not maintain their relationship. They let life get in the way and they did not actively seek each other out.

It can be the same way in our relationship with God. If we do not cultivate it the relationship can easily grow cold and even die. It takes work.

Maybe you have never had a relationship with God where you talked to Him and invited Him into every area of your life. If that is you I encourage you to do that now. Let today be day one of creating a personal relationship with Him.

Read the Word. This is a must. To know what needs to change in your life you must know what God considered Biblical living. You cannot just go off what others tell you. There are way too many out there that will lead you astray. If you want to know God and have any kind of relationship with Him at all you must read His Word.

Self-Reflection. Be honest with yourself and God. Are there any patterns of sin (behaviors, thoughts) that you need to repent for and give up? Repentance means having a change of heart, mind, and direction. It is more than saying and feeling sorry. It involves change.

Spiritual Warfare. Demons do know want you to go through the process of God’s refining fire. They want to create division between you and God. Have you ever noticed that you could binge watch tv for hours or scroll through your phone for hours without interruptions but the second you decide to read the Bible or pray you start getting racing thoughts, someone comes to the door, the baby cries, the dogs bark, the neighbors start fighting, your phone rings—so many distractions. Demons will fight you, but God has equipped each one of us with weapons of spiritual warfare. Verbally command those demons to be silent and get out in the name of Jesus.

James 4:7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.

Prayer Partner. Find someone you can pray with and who will pray for you. Also, someone that can help hold you accountable with the changes that are going to be made in us because of going through the refiner fire.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up. You may mess up and jump out of the fire—numerous times, but make sure you get right back in whenever you catch yourself jumping out.

Don’t Go Back. Whatever God changes in you don’t go back to it. What He sets you free from, stay free. Change is hard and it will require you to make the choice to change. God does not make us change, but He does walk us through every step of the process. He gives us His guidance, strength, courage, and knowledge on how to change, but we must utilize what He is giving us. So many times we make the needed changes but it is hard to maintain them so we fall right back into the old behaviors. Today decide to break that cycle and refuse to go back.

Above All Else, Don’t Give Up

Don’t Let Difficult Situations Derail Your Identity and Purpose

Sometimes life doesn’t look anything like we thought it would: divorce, sickness, loss of job, being passed over, relationship issues, being left out, bullied, people coming against us, feeling like God is not hearing us/our prayers going unanswered, being falsely accused, being rejected, abandoned, etc. 

Sometimes we can feel like we are being tested and put through the fire, but we have no idea why. Being in the fire can be very difficult and we can often find ourselves feeling isolated, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Unchecked frustration leads to anger, anger leads to bitterness, bitterness leads to resentment, resentment leads to walls between our heart and God.

I will be discussing some tips on making it through the difficult times and stepping into victory. We will be looking at several familiar stories from the Bible and talking about how we can apply the principles to our lives.

David and Goliath:  1 Samuel 17

Saul and his men were facing a battle with the Philistines. Everyday Goliath, who was a giant, would go out and yell at Saul and his men taunting them. He did this for 40 days.

How often does our situation taunt us? It is right in our face, and we cannot ignore it if we try. It calls out to us day and night to remind us it is not going anywhere. It can seem so huge and impossible to beat. It mocks us and says here I am and there is nothing you can do about it.

David did not go to the battle, his older brothers did, but he was the youngest and stayed back to tend his fathers’ sheep. He was a shepherd for his father’s animals. Jesse, David’s dad sent him to the battle lines to check on his older brothers and to bring back word of how they were doing. David readily obeyed his father and went to the battle lines. 

While David was checking on his brothers Goliath came down front and center to yell at Saul’s army. The men ran in fear because of the size of Goliath and the words he was saying.

David asked” Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God?” David wanted to know the identity of Goliath and he called him out for exactly what he was: the one who was defying the armies of the living God.

Sometimes we must really get to the root of the issue and call it out for exactly what it is. It can be so big and daunting that we cannot even recognize the root cause. We can let fear take over and distract us from the root issue, but we must push the fear aside and get to the root cause. We must recognize it and call it for what it is. All the yelling could have distracted David, but he was able to ignore the noise and see Goliath for exactly who and what he was.

Saul told David that Goliath was way too big and too strong for him to fight. Saul did not believe in David at all and only saw him as a young small guy.

We must make sure we are surrounding ourselves with people who will support us and pray for us when we are in battles, and not point out how strong or bad the battle looks. When we are in deep battles, we need someone to remind us how big our God is and not how big our battles are. We need people who will hold us up in intercession and not hold a pity party for us. We need ones who will draw us closer to God and not further from Him.

David told Saul about the times he killed a lion and a bear that were trying to take his father’s sheep. He said Goliath would be the same as the bear and lion. He said the Lord who rescued him from the paw of the lion and the from the paw of the bear, would also rescue him from the hand of the Philistine.

We must remember the things God has brought us through. When we are facing major battles, we need to look back on our lives and let our faith build by all the victories God has already given us. David did not see the size of the giant because he had his eyes on the size of his God. Goliath’s size did not make David doubt for a moment that he would be successful in defeating him. He knew God was with him and that was all he needed.

Saul dressed David in his own armor, but it did not fit, and David said he could not wear it because he was not used to it and because it did not fit him.

We must walk in the calling and anointing God gave us. If we try to wear the giftings, anointing, and call of others they will never fit us properly. God has put in our life what we need for battles and for walking in our kingdom purpose. He created us to be exactly who we are, and we must stop trying to be someone else. We must embrace our identity in Him and walk in what He has given us.

David picked up his shepherd’s bag and put five smooth stones in it. Together with the five stones, in his pouch, and his sling he went to face the giant.  

God already provided him with the tools he needed: the pouch to hold the stones and the sling. God had prepared him while he was working as a shepherd. It was his training ground, and he did not even know it. God has us on a training ground, and we often do not even know it. He has already prepared us to fight the battle we are in the middle of right now and once we are victorious in this one, it will be used to prepare us to defeat the next one.

When Goliath saw David, he laughed and jeered at him because of his size and age. He even made fun of his weapon. He did not take him seriously and did not see him as any kind of threat.  

Our battles (enemy) may laugh at us and not even take us seriously. Fear may try to set in and convince us we are not strong enough or big enough to win the battle.

David told Goliath that he came in the name of the Lord, and he told him that on that day the Lord was going to hand him over to David. David said he was going to cut his head off so everyone would know there is a God in Israel. He also said everyone would know that the Lord did not save with the sword or spear, for the battle is the Lord’s and He will hand Goliath over to them.

David knew and stood firmly on his faith that God was going to save him. There was no fear because he knew who his God was, and he knew that He would not leave him alone. He knew the victory was not dependent on his own power or ability, but the outcome rested fully on God.

David quickly ran towards Goliath, took out a stone and struck him in the middle of the head. He ran over to Goliath and used his sword to cut off his head. The men of Judah and Israel won the victory when David killed Goliath.  

David did not wait for the battle to come to him, he ran to it because he knew God was going to deliver him. Sometimes we must take the battle head on and run towards it because we know the fight is based on God and not us. We do not always have to be on the defensive, we can run into battle offensively. 

Woman with Sickness for 12 years Mark 5:25-34

She had been sick for 12 years and had suffered greatly at the hand of many physicians. She spent all her money, and they had not helped her at all and instead she became worse.

How many of us have been here? We get a diagnosis from the doctor with little help getting better. We go to all kinds of doctors and try all kinds of treatments but instead of getting better we get worse. We can become so focused on seeking our cure that we have little room to think of anything else. We run from this doctor to that doctor and yet we are still sick. We spend all our money seeking a cure, but no cure is to be found.

 

She heard reports about Jesus and went where He was. It was crowed, but she pressed in because she knew if she could just touch the hem of His garment, she would get well. She pushed through the crowd to touch Him. She touched the hem of His garment, and she was immediately made well. Jesus stopped and asked who touched Him. She was afraid but she came forward and answered Him. He told her that her faith had made her well.  

We must get to a place of faith that we know if we just press through to touch Him, we will be made well. We must put everything else aside and go after Him. We cannot focus on the cares of the world, and we cannot only focus on our sickness. We must push all of that aside and go after Him at all costs. We cannot care what others think about us or how much they try to push us out of the way. We must have a desperation that says, “I have to touch the hem of His garment and when I do, I will get breakthrough.”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: Daniel 3  

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold-plated statue of himself and required everyone to bow down and worship it. Anyone who refused was to be thrown into a blazing hot furnace. There were Chaldeans who did not like the Jewish people, and they told the king about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (three Hebrew men) who only prayed to God and only worshiped God.

They stood out because they were faithful to God. They were known to be followers of God and to only pray to God. Do people know we are followers of God? Do they look at our lives and know who we follow and serve?

The king sent for the three men and gave them a chance to bow down and worship the statue. They replied by saying God can rescue them from the hand of the king, but if He didn’t, they would still not worship the golden image.

In the face of possible death, they said they would not bow to the image and worship it. They faced death and would not bow, but at times we bow when we are faced with social ridicule. We don’t want to stand out, to be different. We laugh at that joke, so we do not feel left out. We are asked about what we think about certain hot topics, but we hold back because we don’t want to be called judgy or unloving. We walk away from our Biblical morals one at a time so we can fit in and be liked by others. Would we be able to stand for what we believe in the face of possible death?

The king became furious and ordered for the furnace to be heated to seven times hotter than its normal temperature. He then ordered the men to be thrown into the fire. It was so hot it killed the men who were throwing them into it.  

The three were doing everything right. They were following God and being obedient to Him, but they were still thrown into the fire.

The King looked into the fire and was astounded because he saw a fourth man in the fire with the three. The king ordered for them to be removed from the fire, and they did not even smell like the fire. Their hair or clothes was not even scorched. The king recognized the God of the three and wrote a decree that anyone who speaks against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would be cut into pieces. He then caused the three to prosper.  

God could have stopped it at any moment, but He allowed them to be thrown in. Sometimes we must walk through the fire, but we never walk through it alone. While we are in the fire, we can guarantee others are watching our reaction and we can draw them to God or push them away with how we handle the fire. We can point to His goodness and mercy, or we can pout, complain, and get bitter.

Paul and Silas: Acts 16:16-40

Paul and Silas were headed to the place of prayer, and they ran into a girl that had a spirit of divination. She was a slave, and she made a lot of money for her owners. She followed after Paul and was yelling about them being the servants of the Most High God. She continued doing this for several days. It was happening so much that it was annoying and wearing Paul out so much so that he cast the demons out of her. Her owners became angry because she could not make them money anymore. They arrested Paul and Silas and falsely accused them of causing trouble. They were beaten with rods and threw into prison. They were thrown into the inner prison which was a very secure dungeon. Their feet were fastened in stocks in an agonizing position. The jailer was given specific instructions to watch them closely.

Paul and Silas were doing the work of the Lord. They had dedicated their lives to traveling and preaching the gospel. Right in the middle of doing the work of the Lord they were arrested, falsely accused, beat, and shackled to the point of extreme pain. Paul and Silas had to choose how they were going to handle the situation. I don’t know about you, but I could have gotten mad, angry, and bitter quick in this situation.

Paul and Silas were praying and singing praise songs, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Not only did they not get bitter or angry instead they praised the Lord and were praying. They were in the middle of a dungeon in extreme pain and yet they were praising the Lord. They were not complaining, grumbling, asking why us, and they were not shaking their fist in anger at God. They were praising Him for His goodness.

Around midnight there was a big earthquake, so powerful that the very foundations of the prison were shaken, and all the doors were opened, and all of the chains feel off. When the jailer was shaken out of sleep and saw the prison doors open, he thought they had escaped so he took out his sword to kill himself. Paul called out to him to let him know they were still there. He brought them out of the inner prison and asked Paul what he must do to be saved. Paul preached to him and he and his whole house was saved. The jailer washed their wounds and then was baptized, he and all his household. He then fed them and rejoiced with them.

This entire household was saved because Paul and Silas chose to worship the Lord right in the middle of a literal prison. In the middle of torment, they thanked God for His goodness, and He set them free and saved the soul of the prison guard and his family.

Practical Tips for When You are Walking Through the Fire

1. Learn. Use it for a teaching moment and ask God what you can learn. There is always a lesson in everything we go through. We just must look for it. Allow God to use it to refine you.

• Praise and Worship. Even on the hardest days, don’t stop praising Him.

• Fast.  

• Patience in the Waiting: Not that you wait, but HOW you wait. A 2-year-old will wait for cookies to bake because they have to, but they also may throw a fit in the waiting.

• Spiritual Warfare: Put on the full armor of God daily, James 4:7 Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee. Verbally confront the enemy with the name of Jesus.

• Prepare. Ask God what this situation is preparing you for. What tools can you gain as you walk through the fire?

• Prayer. Resist shutting God out. Talk to Him.  

• Teaching. What can you share with others that you are learning. Use it as part of your testimony and learning experience.

• Do. Ask God specifically what He wants you to do and do no more and no less, don’t get stuck and don’t get stagnant.

1. Seek. Above all else seek God first. Shut out all the noise and distractions and spend time with Him.  

1. Submit. Measure your level of submission and make sure there is nothing you are holding back and refusing to submit to Him.

1. Grow. Use the situation as a chance to grow. Grow your faith, trust, character, relationship with God, and any other area that needs to grow.

1. Humility. Remove all pride and reach out for help if you need it.

1. Walk in His Truth. Found in His Word, read the Bible.

1. Fruit of the Spirit. Choose to walk in the fruit of the Spirit no matter how difficult life gets. Galatians 5: 22-23 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  

1. Address all areas of needed healing.  

1. Rest in Him.  

1. Forgive anyone who has wronged you, including yourself.

1. Break all lies you have come into agreement with. Recognize them, ask God to show you any that you do not recognize, once you recognize them repent for believing lies, ask God to break the power of the lie, ask Him to uproot the lie and anything attached to it, verbally break agreement with the lie, and then verbally command any demons attached to the lie to leave in the name of Jesus.

• Perspective. View God though the lens of His Word and not situation.

• Build a Godly Support System. Surround yourself with people of prayer. Ask for prayer and have them pray over you.

Determine to be who God created you to be no matter what you face in life.