Bishop Woods broke the Word all the way down on this past Wednesday with one of my most favorite Bible passages--the story of David at Ziklag--before he was king. This passage presents the culmination of David's experiences with God at a critical point in David's process or journey to become King. Keep in mind that David had been anointed King, but he had survive from the promise to the manifestation. Ziklag was the midpoint betweek the promise and the prize. Some times we give up at the midpoint, but at his midpoint or at Ziklag is where David learned to encourage himself in the Lord! He learned to recall all that God had done for him and to seek God first through prayer and supplication. The name Ziklag means pressed down. It is at the midpoint where some of us get depressed--we want to fall out--we want to give up. But the midpoint is where we--like David, must learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord.
Below is how Bishop Woods explained David's process.
The scripture text is 1 Samuel 30. A recap from Sunday is as follows:
1. David's destruction--Ziklag was property given to David, which had become his home. The Amlekites--a fierce fighting group--had come in and devastated Ziklag while David and his men were away. The Amlekites took everything including wives and children and burned what was left to the ground. A tidbit that I will deal with in a subsequent blog is that the Amlekites were long enemies of the Israelites. God had instructed Saul to wipe them out, but Saul was disobedient.
2. David's depression--when David and his men returned to Ziklag, they returned to utter ruin, devastation and destruction. To add insult to injury, their families were gone and they felt helpless to do anything about their situation. David and his men mourned until they couldn't cry any more and the men eventually decided that they needed someone to blame and they talked about stoning David to death.
3. David's decision--David decided that after all that God had done for him, after all that he had seen and heard of the Lord, he just couldn't stay in a depressed state. David decided to seek God. David went to God in prayer and supplication. He asked God some specific questions about how to handle the situation and he allowed God to work.
4. David's delegation--At a time when everyone was upset, confused, and ready to defect, David mustered up the courage within himself that sparked loyalty in his men. So in spite of the fact that they were ready to stone him, David's men fell in line and again followed his lead. Bishop made an excellent point here, which is that you may not always agree with your leadership, but their track record and credibility in God will engender your support even at the worst of times. This is a lesson for church folk. People too often defect without considering all that God has done for them through the leadership that God gave to them.
5. David's defection--not all of the 600 men that David had went with him. Some of them were still weary from the fight that they just came from so they stayed behind while David and the 400 went on to pursue the Amlekites. But recall the story of Gideon here. God wants to show and prove Himself--He is our source and provider. You don't have to take every body with you and some people can't go with you where you need to go to gain your victory. As Bishop Woods stated, Everyone who starts with you will not finish with you.
6. David's detection--although David had to move forward without 200 of his men, God gave David just one person who helped him to get ALL his stuff back. David and his men discovered an Amlekite who had been left for dead by his crew. He was sickly and hungry. David showed compassion toward him and fed him. This show of mercy is what secured David's ultimate victory. The soldier that had been left for dead told David everything. God blessed David to detect who could help him accomplish his goal.
7. David's determination--David got upset when he saw the Amlekites partying with his stuff. As Christians we should feel the same way. The enemy comes and runs roughshod all over us in our own homes and yet many of us seem unequipped to handle the attack. Take a lesson from David--seek God in prayer and supplication. Like David, when we seek God first, He will make sure that the enemy is unprepared to fight against you!
David and his men slew the Amlekites all night and into the morning. He recovered all and rescued his family. Not only did David recover all, but he also took spoils. When David returned he shared the spoils with everyone--including all 600 men, the Elders of Judah and his friends. Bishop Woods explained that the lesson here is that God will bless you with more than enough when He can trust you to give out and bless others. David did this because he understood that when you bless people that you don't know you set yourself up to be blessed by people you don't know. If you only want to be a blessing to folks in your own sphere of influence, then when you need something you can only reach out to folks in your small sphere and chances are they may not have what you need.
Everybody around you can't encourage you.
Everybody around you won't encourage you.
Not everybody that's around you wants to see you encouraged.
But there are some advantages in encouraging yourself:
1. Encouraging yourself will lead to supplication or specific prayer. When you pray a specific prayer God will give you a specific answer.
2. Encouraging yourself can lead to support. Everybody is not assigned to you, but those that are assigned to you, while they may not always agree with you, will always support you.
3. Encouraging yourself will lead you to surprises.
4. Encouraging yourself will lead you to supervision. Recall that David found an Amlekite on the verge of dying. He provided him with food even though he could have just killed him for all that the Amlekites had done. Even though the Amlekite was an enemy, David humbled himself and allowed the Amlekite to supervise him for a brief period of time so that David could accomplish what he needed to accomplish. God will allow people that you don't expect to lead you to lead you into what He has for you.
5. Encouraging yourself will lead you to success. David recovered ALL and rescued his family. God will always confirm His Word by producing manifestation in the revelation. What you need is all that God will give you in return. So your ALL is the fulfillment of your need. Some folks can't handle the all that they think they want. God will bless you with what He can trust you with. In David's case, God trusted him with his stuff and the Amlekites' stuff.
6. Encouraging yourself can lead to surplus. God will bless you to come out of the enemy's camp with stuff that wasn't originally yours. Start thanking God for the spoils. Some of us are not willing to wait on the Lord. You can't get to your surplus until God has it ready for you. If David had prematurely ran off he wouldn't have met the soldier that led him to his enemies and to victory. Take the time to seek God first. God will do the rest. David gave out of his spoils to others. Meaning that David gave out of the surplus to smooth relationships with other nations.
7. Encouraging yourself will lead you to survival. God had blessed David and his men in the battle of retrieving their stuff. You have to realize that although you are going into the battle God has already blessed you to survive.
The scripture text is 1 Samuel 30. A recap from Sunday is as follows:
1. David's destruction--Ziklag was property given to David, which had become his home. The Amlekites--a fierce fighting group--had come in and devastated Ziklag while David and his men were away. The Amlekites took everything including wives and children and burned what was left to the ground. A tidbit that I will deal with in a subsequent blog is that the Amlekites were long enemies of the Israelites. God had instructed Saul to wipe them out, but Saul was disobedient.
2. David's depression--when David and his men returned to Ziklag, they returned to utter ruin, devastation and destruction. To add insult to injury, their families were gone and they felt helpless to do anything about their situation. David and his men mourned until they couldn't cry any more and the men eventually decided that they needed someone to blame and they talked about stoning David to death.
3. David's decision--David decided that after all that God had done for him, after all that he had seen and heard of the Lord, he just couldn't stay in a depressed state. David decided to seek God. David went to God in prayer and supplication. He asked God some specific questions about how to handle the situation and he allowed God to work.
4. David's delegation--At a time when everyone was upset, confused, and ready to defect, David mustered up the courage within himself that sparked loyalty in his men. So in spite of the fact that they were ready to stone him, David's men fell in line and again followed his lead. Bishop made an excellent point here, which is that you may not always agree with your leadership, but their track record and credibility in God will engender your support even at the worst of times. This is a lesson for church folk. People too often defect without considering all that God has done for them through the leadership that God gave to them.
5. David's defection--not all of the 600 men that David had went with him. Some of them were still weary from the fight that they just came from so they stayed behind while David and the 400 went on to pursue the Amlekites. But recall the story of Gideon here. God wants to show and prove Himself--He is our source and provider. You don't have to take every body with you and some people can't go with you where you need to go to gain your victory. As Bishop Woods stated, Everyone who starts with you will not finish with you.
6. David's detection--although David had to move forward without 200 of his men, God gave David just one person who helped him to get ALL his stuff back. David and his men discovered an Amlekite who had been left for dead by his crew. He was sickly and hungry. David showed compassion toward him and fed him. This show of mercy is what secured David's ultimate victory. The soldier that had been left for dead told David everything. God blessed David to detect who could help him accomplish his goal.
7. David's determination--David got upset when he saw the Amlekites partying with his stuff. As Christians we should feel the same way. The enemy comes and runs roughshod all over us in our own homes and yet many of us seem unequipped to handle the attack. Take a lesson from David--seek God in prayer and supplication. Like David, when we seek God first, He will make sure that the enemy is unprepared to fight against you!
David and his men slew the Amlekites all night and into the morning. He recovered all and rescued his family. Not only did David recover all, but he also took spoils. When David returned he shared the spoils with everyone--including all 600 men, the Elders of Judah and his friends. Bishop Woods explained that the lesson here is that God will bless you with more than enough when He can trust you to give out and bless others. David did this because he understood that when you bless people that you don't know you set yourself up to be blessed by people you don't know. If you only want to be a blessing to folks in your own sphere of influence, then when you need something you can only reach out to folks in your small sphere and chances are they may not have what you need.
Everybody around you can't encourage you.
Everybody around you won't encourage you.
Not everybody that's around you wants to see you encouraged.
But there are some advantages in encouraging yourself:
1. Encouraging yourself will lead to supplication or specific prayer. When you pray a specific prayer God will give you a specific answer.
2. Encouraging yourself can lead to support. Everybody is not assigned to you, but those that are assigned to you, while they may not always agree with you, will always support you.
3. Encouraging yourself will lead you to surprises.
4. Encouraging yourself will lead you to supervision. Recall that David found an Amlekite on the verge of dying. He provided him with food even though he could have just killed him for all that the Amlekites had done. Even though the Amlekite was an enemy, David humbled himself and allowed the Amlekite to supervise him for a brief period of time so that David could accomplish what he needed to accomplish. God will allow people that you don't expect to lead you to lead you into what He has for you.
5. Encouraging yourself will lead you to success. David recovered ALL and rescued his family. God will always confirm His Word by producing manifestation in the revelation. What you need is all that God will give you in return. So your ALL is the fulfillment of your need. Some folks can't handle the all that they think they want. God will bless you with what He can trust you with. In David's case, God trusted him with his stuff and the Amlekites' stuff.
6. Encouraging yourself can lead to surplus. God will bless you to come out of the enemy's camp with stuff that wasn't originally yours. Start thanking God for the spoils. Some of us are not willing to wait on the Lord. You can't get to your surplus until God has it ready for you. If David had prematurely ran off he wouldn't have met the soldier that led him to his enemies and to victory. Take the time to seek God first. God will do the rest. David gave out of his spoils to others. Meaning that David gave out of the surplus to smooth relationships with other nations.
7. Encouraging yourself will lead you to survival. God had blessed David and his men in the battle of retrieving their stuff. You have to realize that although you are going into the battle God has already blessed you to survive.
Encourage yourself in the Lord today! Recall all of His works in your life and all of the times that He has strengthened your hand.
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