- Week 36
- Scripture Reading: – 1 Sam 27:5
- Topic: – Sometimes we fail, but we never quit.
When you feel like giving up!
1 Sam 27:5
Then David said to Achish, [Anger in Hebrew] “If I have found favour in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6 So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistine territory for a year and four months [16 Months].
12 Achish [Represents the enemy] trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious [Displeased, irritating] to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
1 Sam 30:3
When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David was busy with the wrong battle, and it affected his whole family!
Peter failed Jesus.
He failed as a fisherman, failed as a disciple. Men of God may FAIL, but we don’t QUIT! David [The Lord is my Shepherd] was at a low point in his life. Leaving God’s plan to serve the Philistines, he got Ziklag [16 months away from God].
One foot in the Philistine’s camp and the other in Judah. To prove his allegiance to the Philistines, he fought against his own people. [1 Sam 29] But God had decided David’s future despite his circumstances or his enemies! It didn’t matter what people said.
This is the same David that said, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a sabre, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’
Difficulties and Bad times.
At some stage of our lives, we all face difficulties, and bad times, but that is life! Setbacks, losing loved ones, losing faith, getting tired. Nothing works, feeling useless!
Nobody would miss me anyway! And so, we keep on feeding ourselves with TOXIC THINKING! Stop LISTENING to yourself and start TALKING to yourselves! All the negativities will eventually destroy you!
If you don’t RENEW your mind with the life-changing Word of God, life will program and change you! It doesn’t really matter what happens to you, what matters is, what are you going to do about it? Storms will come!
Your greatest moments will not come when all is well, but they will come when you decide to stand up, fight back and do something about it. If you are tired of starting over, stop quitting!
Keep on keeping on, there is a breakthrough coming, and when you hold it in your hands, the suffering and pain will look like nothing!
Don’t give up, it will be worth it.
Life is 10% of what really happens to you, 90% is how we react to what happens to us. The only way you are going to reach your goals, and dreams is to shut up the negative words and people in your life!
Today might not be my day, but soon it will be my day! Do it, one more day, one more time, and get energised through the Word of God, it is ALL that will keep you getting up the next day!
We will not sit down until he arrives.
1 Sam 16:11
So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
Can’t stop, can’t give in, people are counting on me! Unfortunately, it’s not going to get easier, lighter, etc, but God!
You can either let circumstances make you BETTER or BITTER!
Faith.
By faith Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Samson, [But his hair grew back] they see his hair but not the Spirit‘s wind blowing! If you confess, by the mercy of God, 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. True repentance. Eph 6:13 When you’ve done all that you can stand!
Your faith should always be in Jesus Christ Crucified and not in your own abilities, not in you or in your Church! God only uses imperfect people. Don’t judge people by the chapter they are busy living in their lives! Shut out everything and believe that you CAN! You must find something WITHIN to keep you going!
Dan 2:21
He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”
Life is not fair, but God is!
He will ALWAYS make things right for you! Don’t give up! Trade all your WHY’S for God, I TRUST you! Jesus said, that in this World you will have tribulation, BUT God has the patience to wait upon the Lord.
Lam 3:26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Talents & Guts.
You may have the TALENTS to succeed, but do you have the GUTS to fail UNTIL you SUCCEED? Faith, commitment, consistency, discipline, endurance. Elements we all need to make it.
What are you going to do with what you have? It doesn’t matter how much you have, but what you do with what you have! Always keep God in your life and stay humble.
Gen 32:24
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” From DECEIVER to OVERCOMER
It is not OVER until God says it’s over!
Get a fighting attitude like Jacob, and keep on fighting until a different spirit like Joshua & Caleb! Have a stand-up spirit [Attitude] inside of you, refuse to give in.
When we preach the Gospel [Good News] the Tide of the Holy Spirit starts coming in.
When you stand up and trust God, the immovable becomes movable, the incurable becomes curable, the unreachable becomes reachable and the impossible becomes possible.
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the Name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift a standard against him. [The Spirit of the Lord will put him to flight]
1 John 5:4
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. [We already have the advantage over the enemy] And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. [That Jesus Christ is the Son of God]
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
What you look at, listen to LONGEST, will become the STRONGEST in your life!
God bless His wonderful Word.
Meet The Author
Pastor Johan Venter is the founder of Impact Pentecostal Ministries in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. Born in 1961 and raised in Odendaalsrus, he completed police training in Pretoria and served in the army, where he met his wife, Charmaine. Together they completed pastoral training at the Christian Revival Church Bible School under Pastor At Boshoff from 1997 to 1999. They faithfully served in various ministries until 2019, when they felt led by God to start their own church. Today, they host weekly services at La Gratitude Home for the Aged. Passionate about God’s Kingdom, they remain excited and expectant for what lies ahead in their ministry.
Visit: https://lagratitude.co.za for more!