“When the Lord is With You, No One Can Kill You”

Scripture: “ … Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul.” -1 Samuel 18:10-12, NIV

As I write today’s message, my mind goes back to one of the classic movies of the early 1990’s. This particular movie placed a superstar singer, Whitney Houston, on the map as a solid actress. Her co-star was one Kevin Costner, one of the great actors of the past two generations. The movie they starred in was “The Bodyguard” where Houston played a superstar singer, Rachel Marron and Costner played her bodyguard, Frank Farmer. Though there were deaf threats and scares, Farmer’s intent was to let Marron know that when I am with you, no one would harm you or no one would kill you. When I think about this thing from a spiritual standpoint, I think about our Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father, who protects us in the same way that Farmer protected Marron. He allows us to know when He is with us, no one or nothing can kill us! Just in case you haven’t experienced that for yourself, here’s an awesome text to back this thought up.

1 Samuel serves as today’s backdrop. Within this particular episode, we find that David, the anointed next king of Israel, had just defeated Goliath in Chapter 17. Not only that, we have the maidens of the day going around the kingdom singing that Saul has killed thousands and that David has killed tens of thousands. When the word came back to Saul about this singing, he became furious and jealous. The Bible reveals that Saul kept a “jealous eye out on David”. Brothers and sisters, as you make friends and associates in this world, be VERY careful and leery of them because some of them may be looking at you with a jealous eye. At the end of the day, even if they are, if you have God on your side, they cannot harm you or kill you! In addition to this jealous rage of Saul’s, he also had an evil spirit invade him, coming from God Himself. As this spirit hit Saul, David played the harp to soothe this evil spirit. As David played the harp in today’s scripture, something happened. Let’s take a look.

The text reveals to us that King Saul had a spear in his hand. King James Version refers to this spear as a javelin. If you ever watched the Olympics and the track and field events, you know what a javelin is and the sharp point it has on its ends. The text continues on to say this: “and he hurled it, saying to himself, I’ll pin David to the wall”. Brothers and sisters on today, there’s an enemy with a spear/javelin of hate trying to pin you to the wall. There’s a javelin/spear of depression trying to pin you to the wall. There’s a javelin/spear of anger trying to pin you to the wall. There’s a javelin/spear of financial difficulties trying to pin you to the wall. Whatever you do, be leery and aware of the javelins/spears that are coming your way!

Read what David did here: “But David eluded him twice”. Hallelujah! Today, God wants someone to know that though the javelins are thrown at you, He has given you the ability to elude them! He has given you the ability to dodge them! He has given you the “head movement” to get away from them. He has given you the “body movement” to get away from them. Though the javelin/spear of financial difficulties were thrown at you, God gave you a way of escape and it missed you! Though the spear/javelin or hate was thrown at you, God gave you head movement to dodge the hate and still live life like it’s golden! He has given you the ability to dodge the javelin and stick your tongue out at the devil because he missed! Wherever you are, I dare you to give God the praise, the glory, and the honor, for the times the devil missed with his spears/javelins!

When the enemy realizes that you are dodging these javelins/spears, fear kicks in. This is proven in the final piece of the text when the writer wrote: “Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul”. When the Lord is with you, no one can kill you! When the Lord is with you, nothing can kill you! When the Lord is with you, it’s more than the whole world against you! I am happy to know the Lord on today because He has provided me a fence of protection, the ability to move, the wisdom to listen, the wisdom to adhere to His voice and warnings.

In closing, when you are a child of God, He has given you these same things and has given you the ability to withstand the pains in your body, withstand the javelins/spears that are thrown at you, and other things that may try and kill you! Today, thank God for being with you and with Him being there, no one or nothing can do any harm to you!

“It Wasn’t Made Just for You!”

Scripture: ”Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” -2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV

Have you ever been shopping for a particular suit, shoe, purse, or something and you smiled the moment you seen it? The reason you smiled was because you said to yourself, “This looks like me” or as today’s title would imply, “This was made just for me”. Oftentimes, you will purchase that suit, pair of shoes, purse, shirt, or something and see a few days later, a few weeks later, maybe months later, that you and someone had the same taste because they are wearing the same thing as you! With this being said, you realize that though you believed the outfit or whatever was made just for you, in all actuality, it was NOT made just for you! It had others in mind! Within the realm of the Spirit, there are things God have created that are NOT just for you. Today’s main scripture provides us further clarity on this statement.

2 Corinthians is where our main scripture for today is found. Scholars reveal that Paul’s apostleship was assaulted and questioned by those in the church at Corinth. The intent of this letter was to provide vindication of the apostleship granted to Paul by the Almighty God. Within this introductory chapter, Paul discusses God being the God of all comfort (verses 1 – 11) and his change of plans (verses 12 – 24). As we look at our main scripture today, it is found within the first theme, the God of all comfort, and from there, we’ll explore more what “it” was and why “it” just wasn’t made for you.

Paul addresses the church at Corinth with this message: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort”. Paul teaches us a fundamental lesson here. No matter what you are embarking upon, whether it’s prayer, the beginning of your workday, the beginning of your off day, the beginning of service at church, or anything for that matter, we ought to start off with a praise unto our God! We ought to give Him praise for waking us up in the morning! We ought to give Him praise because He provided for you and your family! We ought to praise Him for the good things, as well as the bad things! We ought to give Him praise because He has blessed us in big things, as well as little things. We ought to give Him praise because He’s good ALL the time and ALL the time, God is good! The text also shows us that God is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. When you don’t have anyone to hold you in their arms, God is right there ready to hold you in His arms! When you need your tears wiped off your face from crying, God is right there with His “heavenly Kleenex” to wipe off your face! When you feel like you don’t deserve to be forgiven, God is right there to have compassion upon you and forgive you! If you glad to know that God has compassion and that He is the God of all comfort, you ought to give Him praise wherever you are!

The text continues by saying that He is “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God”. In other words, God did not make “it”, comfort, just for you! He made comfort for us during our troubles, but He made comfort so that we can comfort others when they are in trouble! Think about it, the comfort God gives us is like the blessings He has given us, because when you receive His blessings, those blessings do NOT end at you and with you! Those blessings are meant to be spreaded to those who need it! I think about this ministry, Special Delivery from Heaven, and how God has taken His hands, placed them on me, where I can come before you on a daily basis during the work week to give you encouragement! Once upon a time, I was very spiritually obese, ate so much Word, but was not able to give it, but through this Ministry, He is allowing me to shed the spiritual weight and give it to you that you may be encouraged! Ladies and gentlemen, each and every one of you have some kind of comforting bones in your body! If you see that your brother/sister needs comfort, step up and provide them comfort because God comforted you when you were in trouble!

In closing, no particular shirt, skirt, suit, or any piece of clothing was made just for you. It was made for others including you. Just like clothing was not made just for you, neither is God’s comfort. He provides comfort to you, but it is made where you provide comfort to others in their time of trouble. Are you sitting there with your comfort arms closed or are you opening them up and blessing others with comfort in their time of need?

“How Great Is Our God!”

Scripture: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” –Micah 7:18-19, NIV

One of the great praise and worship songs of the modern-day church serves as our topic for today. The name of the song being “How Great Is Our God!” Some of the lyrics say, “He is the name above all names, and He is worthy of my praise, and my heart will sing, How Great is Our God!” If you sat back for a quick second, you can reminisce about the greatness of God in your life! If it wasn’t for the greatness of God, you would not be living on this morning! If it wasn’t for the greatness of God, you wouldn’t have the job you possess or the energy you possess on this morning! If it wasn’t for the greatness of God, you and I would be dead and not living in this world. Aren’t you thankful for the greatness of God that resides in your life and consistently shows up in your life daily? Well, just in case you are having a hard time accepting the greatness of our God and the blessings He has given you, let today’s main scripture minister to you on His greatness!

Micah serves as today’s feature book. This Old Testament book is one of the 12 Minor Prophet books. Micah was written between 735 and 700 B.C. Scholars conclude that the practical application of this book is that God gives us warnings so that we will not have to suffer His wrath. It’s important to pay attention to God and the signs He leave you! Within this particular chapter, Chapter 7, Micah deals with three critical elements: 1) Israel’s misery (verses 1 – 7), 2) Israel will rise (verses 8 – 13), and 3) Prayer and Praise (verses 14 – 20). Within Micah’s prayer and praise is where we find today’s main scripture and some more evidence about the greatness of our God.

Micah begins today’s text by saying, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance?” The greatness of our God shown here is that He is a forgiving God. Not only that He is a forgiving God, but He is a forgiving God of remnants! Remnants are those who have remained after a period of time; a group that has survived hard times. In other words, if you take a hard look at yourself, you are a remnant! You are a survivor! You are one that remained after your family done you wrong! You are one that remained after the job has kicked your tail! You are one that stands after things have gone crazy in your life! Because you are a remnant, God’s greatness is there to forgive our transgressions (sins)! As God has forgiven our sins and shown compassion, it’s on us to show people like us, compassion, love, understanding, and forgive them of their sins! As we stated in a message a while back, compassion and God’s comfort is not just for you! It’s for everyone!

The greatness of our God continues through the text when Micah says, “You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” In other words, the greatness of God shown here is that He is a merciful God. Aren’t you glad that grace and His twin brother, mercy, pleaded your case on more than one occasion? I often think about us, as men and women, and depending on the individual, may hold unnecessary grudges and end up messing up some great friendships and bonds. Aren’t you blessed by the Father in knowing that His anger is not forever with you and He LOVES or delights to show mercy? If you are happy about the greatness of God that shows mercy, then you ought to give Him praise wherever you are!

Listen to this last portion of today’s scripture: “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea”. The greatness of our God shown here is two-fold: He is a compassionate God and He is a God that cleans the slate! I bless God for being a compassionate God! I bless God because when I was in sin (sin from day-to-day), that He is able to stomp on those sins and throw my iniquities into the depths of the sea where NO man can find them! David tells us that He removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west! In other words, whatever sin you have committed, God is a compassionate God where He forgives you and that He’ll wipe your slate clean! He presents you new mercies each and every day! (Lamentations 3:23) He presents us these new mercies because He wants us to strive and live a life pleasing and acceptable in His eyesight! Because of God’s greatness, He is worthy of the praise, the glory, and the honor!

In closing, I want you to reflect on the greatness of God within your life. Reflect on where you were and where you are right now. Reflect on the fact that God is a forgiving God. Reflect on the fact that God is a merciful God. Reflect on the fact that God is a compassionate God and provides you and me a clean slate every day. When you reflect on these things hard, you’ll truly understand God’s greatness and will have NO shame in giving our Heavenly Father praise!

“It’s What He Wants!”

Scripture: “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.” –Proverbs 19:21, NIV

As I begin today’s message, I am reminded of one of the greatest institutions in life: relationships. Within this particular realm, we find discussions, arguments, “heated fellowship”, and other things. These things usually occur because two parties are trying to get what he/she wants out of the deal. If the man needs a suit, but his woman/wife wants some perfume, eight times out of ten, that man will get that woman the perfume she desires. Why? Because he realizes that it isn’t about him, but it’s about what the woman wants. If you are a father/mother and you needed some work clothes, but your child needed some shoes for his/her sports activity, you would get the shoes for your child. Why? Because you realize that it isn’t about you, but it’s about what the child wants/needs! Well, ladies and gentlemen, in the same light, God wants you to understand that it’s not about what you want, but it’s about what He wants from you! Today’s main scripture will provide clarity on such a profound statement.

Today’s book of focus is the book of Proverbs, written by King Solomon. Within this book of sayings, wisdom, and clichés, we find Solomon’s understanding of what we mean in today’s title. He begins the text with this thought: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart”. If truth be told, we all have plans right now! We have plans to spend Thanksgiving with our family! We have plans to eat dinner with our spouses and/or children! We have plans to move throughout today and attend meetings and classes! We have plans to serve God in the ways that are pleasing to US! We have plans to go to church when WE want to go! The question I ask you at this juncture of the message, “Are your plans God’s plans?” Are the things you plan what God wants you to do?

Just in case they are not, let the remainder of today’s scripture minister to you. Solomon tells us in the latter portion of the text this: “but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” In other words, it’s what God wants! Though you are fine sitting on your butt listening to God’s Word, it might be God’s purpose for you to preach/teach His Word! Though you may be fine singing in the congregation at church, it might be God’s purpose for you to sing in God’s choirs! I recall some six-plus years ago that I had my agenda of serving God as a church clerk, a trustee, the President of the Usher’s Ministry, and as a Sunday School teacher. One Sunday morning, God dropped the scales from my eyes, took His “Q-Tip” and cleaned my ears, and allowed me to understand that His purpose for me was for me to preach His Word and continue to be an encouragement to the body of Christ! On March 12, 2006, I began walking in the purpose God had for me! Others of you can reflect on a moment as such, but at the end of the day, whether you bring your running to a screeching halt or continuously run, God’s purpose will prevail in your life! Here’s a promise I can guarantee: When you accept God’s purpose for your life and walk in it, there are SO MANY BLESSINGS readily available for you! You’ll see favor follow you in a manner where you would say, “Why didn’t I follow His purpose for me earlier?”

In closing, it’s important to recognize the needs and wants of your mate, your spouse, or your family. Though you may want something, your immediate family (mother, father, daughter, son, wife, husband, etc.) may need it or want it worse than you! In this same light, God wants you to know that it is not about what you want, but it’s about what He wants! When you understand that His purpose for you will prevail, then you have taken the lid off of captivity and you begin to walk in the purpose of power and anointing! Are you ready to get what God has for you? If so, just follow His purpose and will for your life!