The cord of three strands

When David stood before Goliath, he knew that God was going to bring deliverance not only for him but also for the people of Israel, and not only that God’s manifest destiny for Israel would be preserved and not destroyed.

What was it that David had that gave him such complete confidence that when he came out to challenge Goliath, he would prevail?

I believe that it was the strength of David’s relationship with God, that he had built up over the lonely years of shepherding, when he was overlooked by his family, as he learned to worship God and to serve Him only, he developed a strong bond with God the Father Almighty, the Lord God Almighty, the Lord of Hosts.

In Ecclesiastes 4:12 we read that a cord of three strands is not easily broken. I believe that there were three key aspects to David’s relationship with God that enabled him to stand fast in the face of death.

(1) Faith
(2) Preparation
(3) Keeping it real

Each of those strands is in turn made up of three components. So we have
Faith, the presence of God, the call of God. David not only believed God, he had also been set apart by God, anointed by God (the call of God) and he also had cultivated the presence of God by becoming a worshipper.
Likewise, we have no business standing before Goliath unless we likewise have faith: we believe God; we’ve been called: appointed, anointed; we have cultivated the presence of God around our lives through seeking Him in prayer, through the word, and through worship. If we do that, we have the first strand in our lives intact.

Which brings me to the second strand. We have preparation. This in turn requires the presence of God (the anointing, the call of God, worship), and it requires humility, and it requires us to show up having done the absolute best with what God has given us. Consider the parable of the talents. Jesus has given us gifts, He has given us talents. And we’re to use them. But not the things that He hasn’t given to us. David was not (at the time of facing Goliath) a battle-hardened warrior. That was the problem. He was a shepherd boy, with a lot of time on his hands. Did he sit around thinking “oh dear, poor me, I’m only a poor useless shepherd boy, what can God ever use me for, I’m not a warrior, I’m not particularly talented, I’m not especially clever, oh poor me”. No he did not. He practiced with his slingshot. In the hours and hours of boredom, watching over his “few sheep”, he did not waste what he had. He learned to be a crack shot. God used this to overcome Goliath.

So you’re thinking “Well, I have absolutely nothing, I’m not even any good with a slingshot, I’m a complete unco, God could never have used me”. Wrong. God will use whatever you have. That is where the humility component and the anointing component come in. If David truly had no skills in at all, he would have overcome Goliath with “just” the anointing on his life. Humility required of David that he recognize that Saul’s armour wasn’t going to work. He went in the strength he had, having learned the lessons from the stories of his ancestors, in particular Moses and Gideon. But the preparation strand means that effort was required, and time was required, and waiting on God was required. God knows the timing. Our times are in His hands.
In the meantime we don’t sit twiddling our thumbs, we put our hands to the plow whatever is in front of us and we use the time wisely to prepare.

Finally, we have the component of “keeping it real”. Which is similar to the strand of preparation, yet different. The emphasis of this strand is humility. We understand not just that we can do nothing apart from God but that we can do everything in Him. All things are ours. All things are possible, to those who believe. So this strand is combined with faith. In fact its faith, hope and love wrapped in a cloak of humility.

So we have the three strands of the cord that must tie us to God, and does tie us to God in Christ.

The faith strand, made up of faith, the presence of God and the call of God. In other words, the anointing.
The preparation strand, made up of our talents and effort (preparation), the presence of God and humility.
The “keeping it real” strand: faith, hope and love wrapped up in the cloak of humility.

Remember we are God’s workmanship, and we are created to do good works in Christ.

Colossians chapter 1, the Message:

“The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.”

There is a hope laid up for us in heaven, that God wants to use us to bring to earth. Touching heaven, pulling down the blessing, and changing earth. All things are possible, if we believe.

The word of the Lord

I will delight myself in the Lord, He will give me the desires of my heart. I will commit my way to the Lord, and He will bring forth my righteousness as the dawn. God delights in my way; my steps are ordered by the Lord; when I fall I shall not be utterly cast down. I will not be ashamed in the time of evil, I will be satisfied in the day of famine. God upholds me with his hand. As I wait for the Lord and keep his way, he will exalt me to inherit the land. Because I trust in Him, He shall deliver me from the wicked.

God is my dwelling place, he has gone ahead to prepare a place for me. God will never, never forsake me: not by any means. In his presence is fullness of joy. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Let the beauty of the Lord be upon me, and establish the works of my hands for me. I commit my way to the Lord today, knowing that my plans will be established. My plans will succeed as I commit what I do to the Lord. He will establish peace for me. He has done all my works in me. He will comfort me and establish me in every good work. I am his workmanship, created for good works in Christ that He has prepared in advance for me, that I should walk in them. He has a plan for my life. He has plans to give me a future with hope. He has plans prosper me and not to harm me. What they meant for evil, God meant for good.

God is the Lord my God. He teaches me to profit. He leads me by the way I should go. The Lord has redeemed me, his servant.

God heals all my diseases. He forgives all my transgressions. He redeems my life from destruction.. He has borne my griefs, he has carried my sorrows. He has borne my sicknesses and carried my pains. He shall prolong my days. I will not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. He was bruised for my iniquities. By his stripes, I am healed. Because He made the soul of Jesus an offering for sin, Jesus will see me, His seed, and God will prolong my days. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in my hand. I will see the labour of my soul and be satisfied. God will divide me a portion with the great. God will divide the spoil between me and the strong, because of what Jesus did. Because Jesus made intercession for me, a transgressor.

I will sing of what the Lord has done. I will enlarge the place of my tent, and stretch out the curtains of my dwellings without sparing. I will lengthen my cords and strengthen my stakes. I will not fear; I will not be ashamed. I will forget the shame of my youth, for God has called me. God will lay my foundations with sapphires. God will make my pinnacles of rubies, and my gates of crystal, and my walls of precious stones. In righteousness I will be established. I shall be far from oppression, I will not fear. Terror will not come near me. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Every tongue which rises against me in judgement, I will condemn. This is my heritage from the Lord, and my righteousness is from Him.

I will come to the waters. I will buy, and I will eat. I will buy milk and wine without money and without price. I will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord. I will incline my ear, I will come to Him. He will make an everlasting covenant with me. God has glorified me. I will seek the Lord while he may be found. I will call on Him while He is near. I will forsake my wicked way; I will forsake my unrighteous thoughts. I will return to the Lord and He will have mercy on me. God will abundantly pardon. God’s word does not return to Him void. God’s word will accomplish what pleases him. Gods word shall prosper in the thing for which it was sent. I shall go out with joy. I shall be led forth with peace. The mountains and hills will break forth into singing before me. The trees of the fields will clap their hands. Instead of thorns, God will bring forth the cypress tree. Instead of briers, God will bring forth the myrtle tree. This will be an everlasting sign to God, the Lord, that will not be cut off.

I will keep justice. I will do righteousness. I will be blessed when I do this. If I hold fast to His covenant, God will give me a house, and a place within His walls, and a name, and an inheritance. God will give me an inheritance even though I am barren in human terms. My name shall not be cut off. God will bring me to His holy mountain. He will make me joyful in His house of prayer. My burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on His altar. Gods house will be a house of prayer for all nations, and I will be a part of it. God gathers the outcasts, and He will use me to gather still more, in His name.

Wait for Him… Abide in Him

I’ve been meditating on Isaiah 30 today; God promises us rest if we turn to Him:

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength
but you would have none of it.

How hard is it for us to do that… and when trouble strikes how easy it is to look to the tangible: our own resources, the resources of society, our friends, our employers, our workplaces, our education, our family. Yet in times like these where are we to turn when these fail us?

You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

Isaiah prophesied this when times were tough: Assyria was breathing down the neck of God’s people, and captivity beckoned. Rather like today. As captivity beckons, who do we turn to?

“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the LORD,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge. who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;

…

Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation, to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.

The effort involved in “travelling to Egypt”, to attain the “useless” help of the arm of the flesh, is just not worth it.

I am reminded of Jesus’ words:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

What to do, then, in times of trouble. Obviously, not nothing. No, we are to seek the Lord:

…the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
How gracious he will be when you cry for help!
As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you,
saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God himself will send the help, the teachers that we need.

Though he gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, as soon as he hears, he will answer us. As soon as he hears. Has he heard from you today?

Hold Fast to That Which is True Part II

The Bible teaches us again and again to hold fast; we are to speak the truth, we are not to be vague.  We are to let our yes be “yes”, and our no “no“, we are not to be double minded.   We are not to despise prophecies.  We are to test everything.

The disturbing fact is, when God speaks something over us, or through us, or to us, it’s all to easy to lose the moment in the glory.  How could this be?  When experiencing the glory of God, its all too easy to feel invincible, that the clarity of the moment will remain when the glory lifts (not departs, just lifts, as in is no longer tangible).

Then as we return to the tyranny of the familiar, the word becomes all too distant and vague and unbelievable, and before long we forget it.   God instructs us to write his word on our doorposts, to strap it to our foreheads.  That is true of the written word, the Bible, and it ought to be true of the things that God shows us, that we know that He’s shown us, that He’s confirmed to us.

Maybe now would be a good time to dust off the word that God’s spoken to you, the vision God’s given you, the dreams Gods given you, and take a good look at them for what they are.  Don’t let the distorted goggles of disappointment and the choking black smoke from the fires of your current circumstances cloud your judgement and cause you to forget what God has promised.  God will do whatever it is He said He would do.  God is still true to His word.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and don’t you forget it!

And those circumstances—just what are they?  Just as Jesus said to Peter “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed that your faith should not fail” Satan and his diabolical henchmen also ask to sift us, and will send anything in their power to discourage us from what God has clearly spoken.

Fortunately, Jesus has prayed for us too, and our brothers and sisters in Christ are going through those same struggles.   If you faint in the time of adversity, how small is your strength? Similarly, while Jesus is sleeping and the storms of life knock the boat, remember Jesus’ words, as He rebukes the wind and the waves and calm prevails: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”.

You of little faith, why are you so afraid?   God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

You who are disappointed, remember Jesus’ words “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” So the other ten doorways were dead ends?   So what?   Jesus has asked the Father, on your behalf, and He has provided many rooms for you.  No matter what life may have thrown your way, He who promised is faithful.  Don’t you dare let life steal from you the joy of the great cloud of witnesses, cheering you on in heaven.  And don’t you dare think you have it harder than they did.  Press on! Remember the promises of Hebrews Chapter 11, and fight the good fight of faith!