David’s Armor

I often struggled with the path the Lord has chosen for me, marketplace ministry. Time and time again I wonder if I am doing the right thing, did I hear His voice correctly. Just when I think I might should do something different, He shows me I am exactly where He wants me. I can honestly say this is a struggle all of us go through from time to time.

I know very few preachers that don’t have a valley experience, often a very intense one, after a great day of ministering be it in a traditional church setting or the marketplace. TD Jakes says there’s a fresh devil waiting for you at the bottom of the hill when you come off a mountain top experience with God. I have found that true nearly every time I’ve experienced a great victory in the Lord.

While our enemy is not very creative, you will learn the ways he attacks you, he is persistent..apple, apple pie, apple tart, apple jelly, apple pop tart? Half the battle is understand how he will try to steal your joy. For me, he attacks my family relationships. Mechanical things break, unexpected expenses happen, you simply deal with them as they happen. However, when the attacks come, his desired impact is to destroy you and your family.

As a great example, this morning everything went nuts, ISP where not working, Livestream was broke, significant changes in the…it’s now 10+ hours later and I’m just finishing the devotional. Yes, it’s been a crazy day, but the Lord is still on the throne, the sun will come up in the morning and life will go on. Through the circumstances of life the enemy tried to cause issues between our teams at 3 locations, he did not win, Jesus saw to that through His victory at the cross!

Blessings

David’s Armor
by Os Hillman

“David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. ‘I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.’ So he took them off.” 1 Samuel 17:39

David, the young shepherd boy, heard the challenge from the Philistines to send someone to fight Goliath. No one volunteered to fight except David. King Saul reluctantly agreed and offered David his armor. David put on the weighty equipment, but quickly concluded he could not fight in this heavy armor.

God equips each of us in such a way that is unique to our strengths and abilities. David was trained as a shepherd to use another weapon. For David, it was a slingshot. David showed great maturity in realizing he could not be effective with Saul’s armor. What are the gifts and talents God has given to you? Have you ever tried to accomplish a task with tools you were not trained to use? God allows each of us to develop skills that are unique to our life. He will not call you to use someone else’s tools.

However, this is only half of the equation. These talents must be mixed with faith. Talent alone is not enough. Faith alone is not enough. It is only when the two are combined that God’s power is released and manifested in the physical realm. Mix your unique gifts with faith today; you will be surprised at the power of God that will be manifested.