The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 26 OCTOBER 2024 – TOPIC: CONFRONT YOUR CHALLENGES
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THE DAILY FOUNTAIN
DAILY DEVOTIONAL OF THE
CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)
DATE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2024
TOPIC: CONFRONT YOUR CHALLENGES
READ: 1 SAMUEL 17: 1-40 (NKJV)
17:1. Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered together at Sochoh, which [belongs] to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim.
17:2. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.
17:3. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
17:4. And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height [was] six cubits and a span.
17:5. [He had] a bronze helmet on his head, and he [was] armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat [was] five thousand shekels of bronze.
17:6. And [he had] bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.
17:7. Now the staff of his spear [was] like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead [weighed] six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.
17:8. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? [Am] I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
17:9. “If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
17:10. And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”
17:11. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
17:12. Now David [was] the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name [was] Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced [in years,] in the days of Saul.
17:13. The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle [were] Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
17:14. David [was] the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul.
17:15. But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
17:16. And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.
17:17. Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried [grain] and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.
17:18. “And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of [their] thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.”
17:19. Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel [were] in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
17:20. So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took [the things] and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle.
17:21. For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army.
17:22. And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
17:23. Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard [them.]
17:24. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.
17:25. So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be [that] the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption [from taxes] in Israel.”
17:26. Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who [is] this uncircumcise
Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 And the people answered him in this manner, saying, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”
28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
29 And David said, “What have I done now? Is[b] there not a cause?” 30 Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.
31 Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. 32 Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover 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.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
38 So Saul clothed David with his [c]armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and28 tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.
40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
THE MESSAGE:
The 9.75ft tall Philistine giant named Goliath challenged the Israelites to provide a champion soldier to fight with him. Great fear gripped the Israelites until David arrived and volunteered to fight the giant. David rejected wearing Saul’s armour, he therefore put it off and chose three stones and a sling and went to confront Goliath. He knew that it was dangerous to begin to try out new war implements in a battle field, even if they belonged to the King. David exercised faith and proved God in the wilderness when confronted with the lion and bear as a shepherd, so it gave him confidence to confront Goliath. People who are afraid do not think or act well. It is better to trust in the Lord than to be afraid when challenged (Psalm 56: 11).
Are you facing spiritual, medical, financial or emotional challenges? Focus on the Almighty God who delivered you from your past problems, for He will grant you victory. Pray and reject worry (Philippians 4: 6). Do not copy other people’s methods for spiritual battles if you are not directed by God. Develop your spiritual life privately through deep study of the word, meditation, fasting and prayers so that you will have confidence to confront the enemy in the battlefield. God is looking for a David that will confront the ‘Goliaths’ terrifying our generation today! Can He rely on you?
PRAYER:Dear Lord, please give me grace to confront my challenges. Amen
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