Your Giant Is Going Down

Come out to the house of God.

Amen.

Anyway, hold your Bible up with me.

Take it out, hold it up nice and high.

And let's go ahead and make this declaration of our faith all together.

Ready, go.

This is my Bible.

It is my primary source of spiritual nourishment.

I will read it every day and become all that God wants me to be.

My mind will be renewed.

My life will be transformed.

I will become fully surrendered to Christ.

Therefore, I will hide his word in my heart so I can be all God has destined me to be.

Amen and amen.

If you would kindly remain standing in honor of the word of God, we are in a series called Lions and Giants and Bears, but God, not O my, but God.

Anyway, today we're going to go to the giant story in the Bible, of course, David and Goliath.

1 Samuel chapter 17, just going to read a portion of it, beginning in verse number 48.

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

It says, So it was when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David.

And David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

Then David put his hand in his bag and he took out a stone and he slung it and he struck the Philistine in the forehead.

So that the so stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face to the earth.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine and killed him.

Today I want to minister to you from one of my books that you saw in the opening.

It's called Your Giant Is Going Down.

New and refreshed, more material, better than ever before.

Are you ready for the word today?

Amen.

Let's pray.

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, would you speak to every heart?

Would you help us to understand your word?

Would you inspire and encourage our faith today?

In Jesus' name, when everybody said, You may be seated.

You know, there are certain stories in the Bible that God didn't just record, he emphasized.

And the story of David is one of those stories where we're supposed to love it because God made it so.

Did you know that God devotes more time to talking about David in the Bible than any other Bible person other than Jesus?

66 chapters in the Bible.

And that means that God is saying something.

He's saying, I want you to study this life.

I want you to learn from this story.

I want you to see something in David because David is supposed to lead us to Jesus.

David was a shepherd, Jesus is the good shepherd.

David was a king, Jesus is the king of kings.

David was betrayed by somebody close to him, Absalom, and Judas, Jesus was betrayed by Judas.

David was pursued by a king who wanted to kill him named Saul.

Jesus was pursued by Herod.

David delivered Israel from what the fear of their enemies, and Jesus delivered us from the fear of death, hell, and the grave.

David defeated the greatest giant in the Old Testament, which was Goliath, and Jesus defeated the greatest giant of all time, sin, death, and hell.

David's story is supposed to point us to Jesus.

We are supposed to love the story of Jesus because David is Jesus, is a type of Jesus in the Old Testament.

But there's other reasons why we love this story.

It's because we connect with it.

We love David because he's an unlikely hero.

He's a shepherd boy.

Shepherd boys don't become kings, but David does.

And he reminds us, or something inside of us says, well, maybe my life isn't limited to where I've started.

We love David because the odds are stacked against him.

He's small and Goliath is massive.

He's got a sling, Goliath is covered in armor from head to toe.

He's got no formal training, and yet David has no training at all in his life.

Goliath has all this training, and yet David wins the battle.

And so there's something in us that says, well, you know what?

We can overcome the odds that are stacked against us.

We can do something that seems improbable in our life.

Moments that don't look good, moments when it seems impossible, moments where everything says you can't win.

David says, Well, maybe you can.

Maybe with God on your side, you can defy the odds.

And that's really what this series is all about.

It's about lions and giants and bears.

But God, no matter what faces you in your life, no matter how hard the thing is, how big the thing is, how strong the thing is, with God on your side, you can overcome it.

But also, there's one more reason why we love this story is because we all have giants.

Giants are those things in our life that stand in our way.

They threaten to destroy us, they intimidate us, they shout lies to us, they seem bigger than anything that we've ever faced before.

Maybe today you came in here and your giant's an illness.

Maybe it's an addiction.

Maybe it's a mindset.

Maybe it's anxiety or depression or a relationship or some type of financial crisis.

Things that make you believe that you're not gonna make it, and this is how your story is gonna end.

But if you're here today, you're here because God wants to encourage you.

That you don't have to be defeated by that giant, but your giant, no matter what it is in life, it can come down too.

And David's story is that story.

And David teaches us a truth that I want to share with you, and that's that you don't defeat giants by size.

You don't defeat giants because you're strong enough or qualified enough or big enough or tough enough.

You defeat giants by faith.

Because there's power in exercising our faith.

And David shows us just how the power of faith can take down any giant in our life.

So, number one on your outline today, faith sees differently.

One of the reasons why faith is powerful is because faith sees things that other people don't see.

And when you look in the scripture, it says this about faith.

It says that we walk not by sight, but by faith.

We don't walk by what we see, but we walk by this thing called faith.

And it almost seems like it's saying, faith doesn't see, but don't get fooled by it.

Faith just sees differently.

It's not that faith doesn't see something, faith is actually being able to see what God sees.

How many of you know God sees everything from the end to the beginning?

Faith is getting an inner picture, it's seeing what God sees, even though you may be looking at something that is naturally different.

Faith is this big inner picture on the inside of you of what God sees in your situation and what God wants to happen in your situation that is so big and so real.

It's as if you're actually looking at it with your own natural eyes.

Faith sees differently.

Everybody else was looking at this giant.

They saw defeat, they saw an impossible uh situation standing in front of them.

But faith, David, he sees this giant as a door in his life, as a door to everything that God has for him.

You see, uh, faith sees giants exactly like that.

Now, here's the thing about giants you and I don't get to choose our giants.

Our giants just tend to show up, right?

Nobody chooses cancer, sometimes it just shows up in your life.

Nobody chooses to have a marriage or a family that's broken apart.

Sometimes it just shows up in your life.

Nobody chooses to become an addict.

Sometimes, as a result of some things, it shows up in your life.

Different things show up, distraction and tragedy and bad situations.

They can just show up.

David's giant just showed up.

He was going on to the battlefield.

His father said to him, Take this bread and cheese and deliver it to your brothers on the battlefield.

I love that because it's the first pizza delivery in the Bible.

Bread and cheese, right?

He's delivering pizza to his brothers on the battlefield.

And when he gets there, the giant just shows up.

And when the giant shows up, it can scare you.

But here's the thing you need to remember about your giants is even though we don't choose our giants, how many of you know God still uses every single giant in our lives?

Don't let the giants scare you.

What do you see?

Do you see it as a problem or what I like to call a propportunity?

A proper tunity is an opportunity wonderfully described disguised as a problem.

Chuck Swindah once said this about the things that come to us in life.

It says, we're all faced with a series of great opportunities, brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

And here's the problem because giants are usually blocking the door to everything that God has for us.

We miss those opportunities, right?

Everybody has both God and the enemy has a purpose for your giants.

For God, it's a door to take you into your destiny.

But because that's what it is, what the enemy does is he puts a giant in front of it to block you from seeing the door of opportunity, to keep you away from walking through the door of opportunity.

So when your giant shows up, if you're seeing with the eyes of faith, you're actually thinking to yourself, that's a door right there, that's a door right there.

That may look like a problem, but it's really a proper tunity.

Matter of fact, there was a group, maybe you've heard of them.

They went to go, you know, audition in front of a record company once, and they had a different sound, they had a different look, strange accents.

The record label said we can't use them, we can't sell this.

The name of the group, the Beatles.

One person saw a problem, it was really a door.

There was another guy, he was fired from his first job because they said he lacked imagination.

You know what his name was?

Walt Disney.

They saw it as a problem.

It was actually an opportunity.

There were the two shoe salesmen.

They went to Australia to kind of check out the Aborigine tribe, see if there was any opportunity that was there.

One salesman looked and he said, Ah, this is a busted case.

They don't even wear shoes.

The other guy said, Send all the inventory you got.

You know why?

Aborigines don't wear shoes.

What do you see when you look at giants in your life?

Do you see them as problems?

Do you see them as opportunities?

I remember when I first got called into ministry and uh and I was telling people, God's called me to ministry, I'm gonna go to New England.

And people go, You're going where?

And I'm going to New England.

Where?

Connecticut.

You don't want to go there.

I mean, people in there don't they don't go to church.

People there, they're close to the gospel, they're hard to the gospel.

There are no big churches.

If you want to, if you want to reach a lot of people, you gotta go to the Bible belt.

You know, you gotta go to where, you know, the gospel is open and stuff like that.

Don't go there.

That's the graveyard for preachers, they used to say.

You know what I said?

Let's go to New England, let's go to Connecticut.

There's a lot of lost people there.

There's no big churches there.

Some people saw it as a problem.

I saw it as a properity.

And now big churches are popping up all over Connecticut.

I just talked to a pastor the other day named Jeremy Baker.

He's gonna be coming, he's gonna be preaching at a hunger conference this year.

He started with 46 people just three and a half years ago, and he's running just under 3,000 every Sunday right now.

Isn't that amazing?

Why?

Because some people see problems, other people see proper tunities.

What are you seeing in your life when you see a giant?

Look at what David saw, 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 25.

1 Samuel 17:25

So the men of it, 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, watch this, with with great riches.

We'll give him his daughter, give him his father's house, exemption from taxes in Israel.

And then David spoke and said, What shall be done for the man who kills the Philistine?

Everybody else saw this as a problem.

Notice what David saw.

He said, This is an opportunity right here.

And can I just mention something in passing here?

What did the king say he would give the man who took down the giant?

Number one, what kind of riches?

Say, don't be bashful, just spit it right out.

What kind of riches do he say would give him?

Great riches.

You know, a lot of people think God doesn't want his people blessed.

God doesn't want his people proud.

Who told you that?

It's a lie from the pit of hell.

God wants his kids blessed.

Notice what he said.

He said, I'll give them great riches.

It's all throughout the Bible.

We don't do things for money, but how many of you know God wants to bless you, especially when you're obedient to the Lord?

Why?

Because his kids are supposed to be the ones who are the most generous.

His kids are supposed to be the ones who fund the gospel, his kids are supposed to be the ones who do great things on the earth in the name of Jesus.

And you can't do that without being wealthy.

And so God wants you to have great riches.

But not only that, he said, great riches, and then he said, the king's daughter in marriage, and then he said, tax-free.

I mean, think about those three promises.

Sign me up, I'm ready.

That's not a problem.

That is a propportunity.

Can I tell you something?

God wants to open doors in your life, and your door might just be behind that giant.

And here's the thing is when it's your door, you see things differently than other people.

Everybody else says, we can't do this and we can't do that, and we can't do this, and this is too difficult, and that's too difficult.

And you look at that same thing and you say, That giant, he's coming down.

That's my door.

Everything in the front in front of my door has got to go.

But the second thing that faith does, if your giant is gonna come down, is faith speaks.

How many of you know giants talk?

Anybody have a giant ever talk to them?

Anyone have a sickness ever talk to them?

A financial situation, ever talk to them, a relationship that's fall apart, ever talk to them.

You know, the sickness is gonna kill you.

That's it, you're done, you can't make it through.

You know, financial situation, you're gonna lose everything, you're gonna lose the house, and you know, you're not gonna be able to pay the bills and this, that, and the other thing, or a relational ship situation, you got divorced, and nobody's ever gonna want you again, you're not gonna get married again.

That's it, your life is over, your family is giants.

They talk, but here's the thing you need to understand faith also talks.

Faith, faith doesn't stay mute, faith, faith speaks, and and David he had a face, a lot of voices, because not only do giants talk, but the minions of the giants talk also.

And the first voice that talked to David was Jesse, his own father, and this was the voice of dismissal.

And when when Samuel came to Jesse's house to anoint the next king, Jesse brought in seven of his eight sons.

Seven of eight.

I mean, that's kind of like excluding one, don't you think?

And it wasn't because David was the youngest, because there were young ones there also.

Protocol was that the oldest one would be the one that's anointed.

So if he was following protocol only, he would have only brought in Iliab, who is the oldest one.

But he brings in seven of the eight.

And Samuel looks them all over, and Samuel says, You know what?

Um, this this this can't this can't be the only sons you have.

Do you have another?

And Jesse says, Well, yeah, there's one, but he's not king material, he's out in the field.

The first voice that we have to overcome if our giant's gonna come down is you're not who God says you are.

But heaven had already spoken, heaven had already called David the anointed one, heaven had already put the oil in the horn of Samuel on hold until David walked into the room, and God was fixing to let the oil flow in front of his enemies because how many of you know you are who God says you are, no matter what anybody says?

Second voice was the voice of Iliab.

Goes out onto the battlefield, he's got his pizza with him, he's like Iliad here, and he sees the giant.

He didn't know that the giant was even gonna be there, and Iliab immediately begins to question him.

David overhears the reward.

David's like, What shall be done?

And Iliab's like, Shh, he calls him out.

Look what he says.

1 Samuel chapter 17.

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

Why did you come down here, Iliab says?

With whom have you left those few sheep?

In other words, trying to minimize what he's doing.

I know your pride, your insolence.

You just came here to see the battle.

And theologians tell us that this statement kind of reveals a potentially deeper issue.

Theologians say that David's father may have been unknown, that maybe it really wasn't Jesse.

And it could be the reason why in Psalm 51 and verse number five, David says, This, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in my sin my mother conceived me.

And some so some theologians have speculated that the reason why Jesse didn't bring him in is because David was not really his son.

So he just brought in his seven sons, left David on the outside.

Some theologians have said this is the reason why Iliab despised him and why Iliab didn't really, you know, want to see him become king.

And so what happens is David comes in to the battle, and Iliab, you know he's got to be a little jealous, you know he's got to be feeling some kind of way.

He's not just criticizing David, he's reminding him of his history.

Because anytime you're about ready to step into your destiny, there will be Iliabs in your life who will remind you of all the wrong things about you.

Iliab was saying, Don't you forget who you are, don't you forget where you came from, don't you forget that you're really not part of this family, don't you forget that you're illegitimate, don't you forget that you're overlooked, don't you forget that you're not king material, don't you forget all these things.

The voice of Iliab, the voice that tries to call into question everything that God says, the voice of accusation.

But I want you to notice something.

You cannot have Iliabs and Jesse's, and we're gonna see some other voices, have the last word in your life.

When Iliabs talk, when Jesse's talk into your life, you need to do something that we're all real good at, except when it comes to the giants.

You need to talk back.

There is it amazes me.

When I when I watch people, people will talk back to everybody, they'll talk back to their spouse, they'll talk back to their parents, they'll talk back to their teachers, they'll talk back to their pastors, they'll talk back to those in authority, they'll talk back to people on social media they don't even know.

Long fights with people on social media, but the giant starts talking and you become mute.

You accept everything the giant is gonna say in your life.

How many of you know that the time to talk back in your life is when the giant tries to put you down?

David talks back.

He said, What have I done now?

Is there not a cause?

And he turned from him toward another and said the same thing.

What shall be done for the man who takes this giant down?

Sometimes you gotta just move on from Iliab.

Sometimes you gotta say, Iliab, I don't have time to talk to you.

I don't have time for you to talk down to doubt me down, to talk me down.

There's a giant in my way, that giant is my door.

And so, Iliab, you need to shut up and I need to keep going on.

Well, what God's called me to do.

Third voice he faces is the voice of limitations.

Saul the king comes before Saul.

He says, I'll go out and fight him.

Saul says this, verse number 33.

You're not able, you're just a youth.

He is a man of war from your youth.

The the voice of limitations.

This is what you can't do.

These are these are the things I know you think you can do, but let's let's just talk reality for a minute.

You really can't do those kind of things.

You know what David does?

David talks back.

He said, Your servant used to keep his father's sheep.

And when a lion and a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went after it.

I struck it, I delivered the lamb from its mouth, and when it arose against me, I caught it by the beard, I struck it and killed it.

Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear.

And this, I love this smack talk, and this uncircumcised Philistine.

Come on, that's smack talk to a whole nother level.

I was on the basketball court the other day.

I was like, come on, you uncircumcised Philistine, let's go.

Now just play it.

What's he doing?

He's he's talking back.

He's not letting the enemy have the last word.

He's not letting the giant have the last word.

See what he's basically saying is notice what he goes on.

He said, he 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 the Philistine.

David is like, you look at me and you say that I'm not able, but he's saying, But I know a guy.

They know a guy.

Here's what David is saying.

David's like, I know a God.

I know a God who is able.

I know a God who brings water from the rock.

I know a God who parts red seas.

I know a God, I know a God, I know a God.

How many of you know you need to know a God?

You need to know a God who is more than able in your life.

And then finally, after he talks to all the minions, he finally talks to Goliath because giants speak.

Goliath is the voice of intimidation.

David rushes toward the battlefield.

Goliath sees him and disdains him and speaks to him.

And he says, This Am I a dog?

Then you come to me with sticks?

And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.

In other words, he says, You're just a kid, you're a pretty boy, you're a loser, you can't, you won't do this.

You can't do any of these.

The voice of intimidation in your life.

What does David do?

He talks back.

David said, You come to me with the sword and the spear and a javelin.

He said, But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.

I know a God, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand.

I will strike you down.

Look at the smack talk and take your head from you.

I'm gonna rip your head off at the end of this battle.

And all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel.

Then all the assembly shall know that the Lord doesn't save by the sword and the spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into my hand.

What is David teaching us?

When giants talk, talk back.

Don't become mute, don't let the word of the giant be the last thing that lands in your heart and your mind.

Remember what Jesus did?

Jesus constantly talked back in the wilderness.

Comes and tempts him.

What does Jesus do?

He talks back.

Then guess what the devil does?

He tempts him again.

Guess what Jesus does?

He talks back.

Devil comes and tempts him again.

What does Jesus do?

He talks back.

See why?

Because there's power in what comes out of our mouth.

Proverbs chapter 18, verse 21 says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

Proverbs 18:21

James says that the tongue steers our entire life.

Some people say, I don't like the like life I have.

What's my problem?

Your answers are right underneath your nose.

You're looking at all these other issues.

How do you talk about your life?

What do you say over your life?

What do you say over your marriage?

What do you say over your health?

What do you say over your finances?

What do you say over your career?

What do you say over your dreams?

What do you say over your relationship with God?

Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

And some people say, well, ah, that's just one of those, you know, weird type of, you know, name it and claim it, blab it and grab it type of things.

Well, can I can I just quote you, Jesus?

Okay.

How many think Jesus taught name it and claim it?

And blab it and grab it?

No, but he did teach a principle, right?

The principle is you get what you say.

Right from the master.

These are in red in my Bible.

Maybe they're in purple or a different color in your Bible.

In my Bible, these are red.

Mark chapter 11, verse 22.

Mark 11:22

Have faith in God.

This is Jesus talking.

They came to Jesus, the fig tree.

Remember, Jesus, Jesus walked by the fig tree and it showed leaves, and Jesus went over to get some fruit.

It had no fruit, so he cursed the fig tree.

The next day they walked by the fig tree and it was dried up from the roots.

And the disciples said to Jesus, How can we do that?

In other words, you can do what Jesus did.

Hello?

If you practice what Jesus practiced.

And by the way, the reason why he cursed the fig tree is because leaves are an indication that they're supposed to be fruit.

And the tree was false advertising.

Some of y'all are false advertising.

Some of y'all are, I love Jesus, I love Jesus, I love Jesus.

But then somebody really comes and looks into your life and there ain't no fruit there.

And God's like, What's up with the false advertising?

How many of you know let your light so shine?

Let people see it.

Don't just say it, but let people see it.

And so they asked Jesus, Christ, how can we do this?

And Jesus said, Here's how.

Have faith in God, right?

Not have faith in yourself, but have faith in God.

I know a God.

I know a God.

He's more than able, he can do anything.

God is stronger, God is bigger with God.

All things are possible.

Have faith in God, for assuredly I say to you, that whoever says to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things which he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Jesus said, You don't just talk about your mountain, you talk to your mountain.

Some people are good at talking about their mountain.

Well, you never believe what happened to me.

When did this happen to you?

Well, about 10 years ago.

Why are we still talking about it?

I understand, by the way, that some things leave a scar.

I'm not trying to dismiss that.

But how many of you know there's a comes a time in your life where you gotta reverse the way you're talking?

Comes a time in your life where you can't wallow in what's happened yesterday.

I'm sorry, and everybody goes through bad things in life, and yes, some people go through worse things than other people, but at some point in your life, you gotta start putting the word of God in your mouth and not talking about your mountain, but start talking to your mountain.

That's what Jesus said.

Well, how do we do that?

Well, first of all, you need to speak authoritatively.

There are too many people that speak without any power behind their voice.

They speak thinking, well, maybe this will work and maybe it won't.

Mountain, can you please move?

Or God, if you see fit and your sovereign care and justice, would you please, God, just look upon me with a smiling face just this once?

And God, if you do that, I'll be forever grateful.

That's not necessarily a bad prayer, but Jesus didn't even say, talk to God about your mountain.

He said, talk to your mountain about your God.

There's authority in your voice.

Jesus put his words on the inside of you, and so when you speak, you ought to speak authority, knowing who God is, and therefore knowing who you are, knowing that you serve.

Notice what David said.

He said, You came to defy the armies of the living God.

He said, This day all of Israel know there is a God.

He talked to his mountain about his God, and because he knew who his God was, he knew who he was.

See, when you know who God is, you know who you are.

You know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

They looked at David, they said, You're not a king.

He said, God says I am.

They said you're too small.

He said, God says I'm strong.

They said, David, you're overlooked.

He said, God said I'm an overcomer.

When you understand who God is, you understand who you are.

You gotta talk with authority.

But not only that, well, what happens if it if it doesn't work?

Speak relentlessly.

Go back to Jesus.

The devil comes, tempts him.

Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

What does the devil do?

Talks again.

What does Jesus do?

Talks back.

What does the devil do?

Talks again.

What does Jesus do?

Talks back.

Jesus kept talking back and talking back and talking back and talking back and talking back until the enemy left him.

The scripture said, You gotta talk relentlessly.

Don't give up.

How many of you know sometimes there's gotta be spiritual fight in you?

There's too too many people, they do not have spiritual fight on the inside of them.

The scripture says, fight the good fight of faith.

You need to have some spiritual fight that says, I'm gonna keep talking what God says about this situation.

But then lastly, speak accurately.

Don't just say anything.

The power is not in your words, the power is in God's word in your mouth.

Hebrews chapter 10, 23 says, Let us hold fast.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Don't quit.

Hold fast to the profession of your faith.

And the word profession is the Greek word homologion.

Homo means same.

Logion means words.

Homo logion means to say the same thing as God.

What did God say?

If God expects you to say the same thing as Him, then God must record for you what to say.

Where does God record for you what to say?

In His Bible, in the book.

You speak the Word of God.

Why?

Because faith speaks.

Some of you need to get less of the thoughts of the world, less of the thoughts of the culture out of your mind.

Put the word of God in your mind and in your heart so it comes out of your mouth.

Speak accurately, say what God says.

But then after you've said it, after you've seen it, how many of you know faith also stands?

Comes a moment where you've said everything you know to say and you've seen it the way God sees it, but now you need to take a stand.

Scripture says, having done all to stand, stand therefore.

Faith takes its stand on the word of God.

Remember David when he said, You uncircumcised Philistine?

That wasn't just smack talk.

Be cool if it was, right?

But it wasn't.

David was saying, I have a covenant, you don't.

In Bible times, when you were circumstanced, circumcised, it was a sign that you had a covenant with God.

David was saying, I've got a covenant with God, he doesn't.

Guess what the covenant with God was?

Everything God said with the backing of heaven, and it came along with all sorts of promises, protection and provision and safety and deliverance.

And so when David came out there, he said, This uncircumcised Philistine, what was he saying?

I'm taking my stand on the word of God.

I'm not taking it on my strength, I'm not taking it on my capability.

I am taking it on the word of God.

Do you know what the Bible says about the new covenant?

It says it's a better covenant established on better promises.

Do you know why?

Because it's backed by the blood of Jesus.

When Jesus spilt his blood, it was as if Jesus was signing on the line in blood.

Everything I promised you, I back.

The scripture says he keeps his word to a thousand generations.

How many of you know you're taking your stand on something that has been signed, sealed, and delivered in the blood of Jesus?

I love to tell this story.

I've told it so much.

Some of you have heard it a lot.

The giraffes, right?

I went to San Diego Zoo one time.

I was on a book tour there years ago, and um we went backstage to the giraffes, and they told us all about giraffes, and they told us giraffes give birth standing up.

Right?

Yeah, she said, mmm, like that.

Imagine that, like imagine, like you know, you're a hundred feet tall, or maybe just imagine you're like ten feet tall, right?

And you know, forgive me for being graphic, and the uterus is like way up here and you give birth, and what happens to the baby?

Right?

It's kind of like a rude awakening into the world, isn't it?

But what's really crazy about it is not only does the giraffe give birth standing up and the baby falls, but then the mother turns around immediately and starts nudging the baby up with its nose to get on its feet right away.

And as soon as the baby gets on his feet, it goes, whack, and knocks the baby right over again.

And the baby goes like tumbling down like this, you know?

And the baby's trying to get his way, and the and the mother goes back over and starts nudging it like this, and the baby gets up again and goes, whack.

By the way, I practice that so that I wouldn't pull a hip.

Whack.

Some of y'all over 50 are going, I feel you, Pastor.

Some of you like 20 is like, why would you pull a hip hip?

Just wait, just wait.

And the mother just keeps doing that until the baby gets up and stands on its own without anything.

Because you know why?

In the jungle, the advantage of the giraffe is Karim Abdul Giraffe.

It's the tallest animal.

When it stands up, when it takes a stand, that's where it gets its strength from.

Do you know where you and I get our strength from?

We get our strength from standing on the word of God, standing on the promises that cannot fail.

Faith takes a stand, but also faith stands when the cause is greater than the cost.

When Iliab says, What are you out here for?

David said, Is there not a cause?

Standing will cost you.

Taking a stand for God and on the things of God can cost you, can cost you relationships, can cost you money, can cost you jobs, can cost you all sorts of things.

It's not easy to take a stand.

And the reason why most people don't take stands for God is because the cause of the kingdom is not a priority in their life.

Most people don't put God on the place or in the place that he deserves to be.

They don't have a kingdom cause in their life.

And so if compromise comes, easy to do it.

They don't want to take a stand.

But when God, when Christ is your cause, when the kingdom is your cause, you don't care what the cost is because you've already got the pearl of great price and his name is Jesus.

You have already hit the jackpot and everything.

David said yes.

The great riches got me interested.

He said, Yes.

The nice looking girl got me interested.

By the way, I remember when I was 14 years old, my mom took me to a church.

I didn't really want to go to church.

And there was this beautiful girl three rows in front of me.

My mom said the next week, you want to go back to church?

I said, Let's go.

I'm ready, I'm ready.

I'll be there.

I was interested in God because of the girl.

But look at what God did.

Look at it.

I'm not interested in God for that, no reason more.

God will use stuff to get you interested that don't even blow getting you interested.

David said, I like the great riches, I like the girl, I like the tax-free, but that wasn't David's motivation.

Because can I tell you something?

If money is your motivation and if women are your motivation, or if men are your motivation, or this or that of success or influence, eventually something will happen in your life where money can't satisfy and that relationship can't solve.

You gotta have a cause that is greater than that, and the cause has to be Jesus.

They know what David said?

He said, Is there not a cause?

The cause is God has called me for such a time as this.

The cause is I'm called to be a king so I can bring Israel back to God.

The cause is that I'm meant to be in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Get a cause.

And by the way, when you get a cause for God and you defeat your giant, you come out lacking nothing.

A lot of people think, well, if I serve God, you know what's going to happen to me.

Can I just speak to this initially?

There's a lot of people out there today putting up all sorts of stuff on social media, telling you God doesn't want.

God doesn't want you to be blessed.

God doesn't want you to have, God doesn't want you to be financially prosperous.

It's a lie from the pit of hell.

God wants all that for you and more.

Matter of fact, when you defeat your giants in life, everything in your life changes.

Your relationships change, your finances change, the doors you open to change, everything changes.

It's not your why, but how many of you know God is not afraid to bless his kids who are obedient to him.

God wants to bless your life.

But after you've done all that, there's still one more thing.

If your giants gotta come down and that you must do, and that's number four, faith strikes.

Faith strikes.

You gotta take action.

A lot of people, all they do is stand on the word, they pray, they talk the word, they do this, they do that, but they never take any action.

David is getting ready to go out on the battlefield.

Saul, the king, he wouldn't go out to fight.

So David is the one going out.

You know the story?

He goes in before Saul.

Saul says, Okay, I'll let you go.

Here's my armor.

David tries on all the armor.

It's too big.

Isn't that a good feeling, by the way, when you go to try on clothes and they're too big?

Don't you love that?

Isn't it a really bad feeling when you go to try on stuff and it don't fit?

David was like, Saul, you out of shape, man.

I'll display it.

He's like, These don't fit me.

He actually says this, he says, I haven't tried these.

Because there's a lot of people who are going out into battle with weapons they haven't tried.

If all of a sudden you're just gonna try God when the giant is in front of you, I really pray for you.

You really need some grace, you really need some mercy.

And there are a lot of people that are just calling out to God only when they need something.

And thank God for his mercy and grace.

Thank God that he answers even in times like that.

But can I tell you you need to try your weapons out before you go?

And David says, No, no, this ain't me.

He said, I'm not I'm not good at this armor.

How many of you know David said, I'm okay with the slingshot?

See, some of you need to stop trying to be a cheap imitation of somebody else.

Some of you are looking at what they're good at.

Some of you are saying, I want to be good at the armor like them, and I and I want to be good at this like them.

But how many of you know that God made you enough?

What God has given you is enough.

It's enough for you to succeed, it's enough for you to overcome, it's enough for you to defeat your giant.

You don't need to try to be like somebody else.

That stuff won't work for you.

God made you good at something.

David said, I'm good at the slingshot.

I say, what is good at the slingshot gonna do?

If God made you good at it, can I tell you it'll bring your giant down?

It won't bring their giant down, but it'll bring your giant down.

And David said, I'm good at this.

I'm comfortable with who God made me.

God made me enough.

Chop trying to be somebody else.

God made you enough.

But then check this out.

Here's what I love about the story, and here's where it gets good.

God said, David, that's good.

You you know that what I made you is enough.

But I'm gonna teach you something.

What I made you is really more than enough.

It's not just only enough.

David goes over to the brook.

You remember that?

He takes out five smooth stones.

Five is the number of grace.

Five smooth stones.

They're smooth because they've been in the water for a long period of time.

And what water, what rocks do, what rock, what happens to rocks when they've been in water for a long time, it kills or it smooths them out.

It takes off the rough edges.

Remember that.

I'm gonna come back to that in a minute, right?

And so he picks five smooth stones, he puts them in the shepherd bag.

And what does he do?

He says to himself, he says, I'm good with this.

I don't need an army, I don't need Iliab.

I'm good with what I'm good at.

David says, This is good.

God's gonna do it.

What God has given me is enough.

But he takes five smooth stones.

He probably thought to himself, Well, this is a five-stone giant.

I know I'm gonna hit him, but this is a big giant.

Maybe I hit him the first time and he just stumbles a little bit.

So I gotta hit him the second time, and maybe he stumbles a little bit more.

I gotta hit him a third time, maybe he stumbles some, and maybe by the fourth rock he's starting to get weak.

And then maybe the fifth rock will really take him down.

Maybe that's what he thought.

Or maybe he thought to himself, what if I miss four times?

He's a five-stone giant.

There are a lot of people that overestimate the power of their giant and underestimate the power of the God who made you.

Because David goes in with five.

But how many stones does David use?

One.

God said, When you fight the giant and come out the other side, you're gonna realize not only are you enough, but you are more than enough because I created you.

Everything I got gave you.

It's more than enough.

More than enough.

So he goes and he takes some rocks.

But Pastor, well, what if I, by the way, the rocks are the action.

In life, you gotta throw some rocks.

In life, you gotta don't throw rocks at people.

That's not what I mean.

But in life, you gotta take some action.

Action is where you put into practice what God has asked you to do.

If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land.

There's a lot of people that God has told you what to do, but you refuse to do it.

For some of you, there are some practical things, some rocks you need to throw.

Maybe your rock of action is you need to go to your spouse and ask for forgiveness.

You've been praying for your marriage to turn around and it hasn't happened because you're waiting for your spouse to apologize to you.

But maybe what God is saying is you need to go apologize to you.

Maybe that's the rock that you need to throw.

For others of you, you're believing God for big things.

And maybe God is saying, Okay, I got that door for you, but I need you to get some training first.

Because a lot of Christians think that God honors incompetence.

Well, I'm a believer, I got God on my side.

That's not an excuse to be incompetent.

Some of you need some training, maybe that's the rock that you throw.

Some of you need some therapy, maybe that's the rock that you throw.

Maybe you need therapy to get over everything you've been praying for God to get over.

Some of you have been asking God for a financial breakthrough, but you haven't given a tithe since you've been saved.

Look at that.

That always gets four out of five claps every time.

Because we want God to bless our lives without throwing the rocks, God said.

Here's what the Bible says when we bring the tithe, anything, you can put anything in there.

When we obey God, He opens the windows of heaven, pours out a blessing that we won't have room enough to receive it.

That's what you have to do to get that blessing.

We want God's blessings, but we want to do what we want to do.

God said you gotta throw some rocks.

God said there comes a time in your life where faith strikes, it steps out, it does what God says to do.

Well, what if it doesn't work, Pastor?

What if it doesn't work, Pastor?

What if it doesn't work?

I want to share with you a couple things.

Number one, trust your weapons.

Trust your weapons.

In the Bible, there were three types of uh armies, if you will.

There was the the infantry, they rode on horses, right?

And then there was the I'm sorry, the cavalry, they rode on horses.

The infantry, they were hand to hand combat.

And then there was the the artillery, these were the archers and the slingers.

The other ones, the the infantry, they were the ones who who fought hand to hand with swords and spears.

And Goliath, he was part of that group, the swords and spearmen.

He was great hand to hand combat.

David, he was part, or he was an Type of the the the the ones that flood uh fought with the slings in their hand, the artillery.

And so here's the question: who's got the advantage?

The swordsman or the slinger?

It just depends how you fight.

If we like this, who's got the advantage?

Hand to hand.

If we far away, who's got the advantage?

Slinger.

Depends how you fight.

Notice what Goliath says to David.

Come down here.

What's he saying?

Come fight on my level.

Do you know what the enemy tries to do to every single one of you who faces a giant?

Come fight on this level.

Bitterness, tit for tat, unforgiveness, compromise, unholiness.

Come fight on this level.

Why?

He knows if you fight on that level, he's gonna whoop you every time.

Goliath wasn't lying when he said, Come down here and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air.

If David tried to fight Goliath on his level, he loses.

David said, No, no, no, no.

I ain't wearing that armor because I ain't good with hand-to-hand combat.

Those ain't my weapons.

He said, I'm gonna fight with my slingshot.

And the Bible said that Goliath called David down from the top of the mountain into the valley.

And so David stayed far enough away where the sword of Goliath and the spear of Goliath couldn't get to him, but where his slingshot that he could hurdle 150 feet with precision could still work.

What is God saying?

You gotta trust your weapons.

What are your weapons?

The weapon of prayer, which gives you a peace that passes all understanding.

The weapon of the word, which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the sword and the spirit.

The weapon of praise, what does that do?

When we praise, God inhabits our praises.

The weapon of generosity, which causes an open window to be above us, the weapon of praying in the Holy Ghost, which causes you to pray perfect prayers.

You gotta trust your weapons.

The scripture says the weapons of our warfare are not cornal, but mighty in God to the pulling down of strongholds.

Trust your weapons.

But here's what I really love.

Here's David.

He goes over to the brook, gets five smooth stones.

The scripture is clear that Goliath calls and David begins to run toward him.

So he's on the run and he's doing this.

He's on the run and he reaches in.

Somebody just gave me this little stone before the service from the valley of Elah when they were in Israel.

Imagine if this was the size of the stone.

The Bible said, even if you have faith as small as a what?

Imagine if this size stone took down a ten-foot giant.

Look, look at the miracle.

This size, this size faith could take down giants in your life.

You don't need big faith.

You need this size faith.

David's on the run, reaches into his pocket, puts a stone that size in the slingshot.

Six to seven revolutions per minute.

He's on the run, he's on the run.

He's 150 miles, uh 150 feet away.

And he slings this thing, and Goliath is covered in armor from head to toe.

Historians tell us there was only one spot on Goliath on his head that was exposed, and it was a spot this big.

David is a hundred.

If somebody said this sounds miraculous, I'm talking about God right now.

Okay?

See, some of y'all, I don't understand how you believe in that kind of stuff.

This sounds too good to be true.

I don't understand what kind of God you believe in.

I believe in a God that can do the miracle.

I'm talking about God right now.

David is running.

He's got this thing going, he's got this thing going.

He's got now, David was good with this slingshot, y'all.

Right?

He was real good.

He was practicing while he was by himself, while nobody was watching.

He was getting proficient at his gift because some people want a platform where they're still not proficient at their gift.

Why?

So you can ruin other people's lives?

David is good.

And he throws this thing and he hits Goliath 150 feet away.

Right here.

I don't think so.

I don't think he could do it.

See, the last thing I want you to recognize is that when you fight your giant, how many of you know you ain't fighting alone?

David was good, but David was not that good.

Matter of fact, the smooth stone, you know why David needed it?

Because if it was a ragged stone, it wouldn't fly straight.

If it was a crooked stone, if it was a stone with rough edges on it, it couldn't fly straight.

Some of y'all are too rough, too crooked, too jaggedy to hit the target all the time.

Some of y'all wondering why your life ain't going where it's supposed to go.

Because you ain't a smooth stone, you a jaggedy stone.

You try to say to God, God bless my edges.

You think you're John Legend or something like that.

God bless my edges.

I like all your curves and all your edges.

No, no, no, no, no.

God wants to smooth all that stuff out in your life.

Why?

So that you can fly straight.

But even with the smooth stone on the run, y'all, with a with a spot that big, no way.

But David wasn't fighting alone.

See, I believe that when you take a step of faith, when you obey, when you strike, when you do what God said, that God's supernatural intervention all of a sudden shows up in your life.

And I believe that as soon as that stone left that sling, that the unseen hand of heaven grabbed hold of that stone and projected it right where it was supposed to go, so that it landed in the only place that could take the giant down.

You need the hand of God in your life.

If you don't have the hand of God in your life, there are certain things that are not coming down.

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