“A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span (about 9 feet 9 inches). He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armour of bronze weighing five thousand shekels (about 125lbs); on his legs he wore bronze greaves (armour for the shins), and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed 600 shekels (about 15lbs). His shield bearer went ahead of him.” (1 Samuel 17:4-7)

Wow! This giant of a man carried over 10st of metal on his body – no wonder he got someone else to carry his shield! He was HUGE and formidable and seemingly invincible. Verse 16 says, “For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.” (Forty is representative of trial or testing. Jesus was forty days in the wilderness and the Israelites were 40 years in the desert.) So, every day, morning and evening, Goliath goaded them, showed them how big, strong and unbeatable he was. The Israelite army went out to meet the Philistines every day and shouted the war cry but, as soon as they SAW Goliath, they ran away in great fear!

Along comes annoying little David, boasting about how the Lord had kept him safe as he watched over the flock, battling lions and bears and saving the sheep from the jaws of the predator. He faced the giant and said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against YOU in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.”

David had selected five smooth stones from the stream; not even rocks or sharp stones. He’d already decided he wouldn’t wear armour as he could barely walk in it and, anyway, he wasn’t afraid because he knew that the battle was the Lord’s! Now, if you know anything about Hebrew, you’ll know that five (hei) is the number of grace. David didn’t pick his weapons to inflict maximum impact, he picked his weapons knowing that God uses the “weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Cor 1:27) David was not afraid because he knew his God! Even though Goliath looked upon him as just a boy, to be derided and despised – a pushover – David saw the enemy as already defeated.

God used the gifts he’d already given David as a shepherd, plus his skill with the slingshot, to provide one of the most unexpected victories in history. And David, knowing he could not beat Goliath in his own strength, gave all the glory to God, even before he set out. Finally, even though Goliath was dead, David cut off his head with Goliath’s own sword, the Philistines scattered and the Israelites then pursued them, killed them and plundered their camp. The enemy was totally defeated.

So, what Goliath are you facing today?

Is the battle yours, or the Lord’s?

as long as it is called “Today” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

Ok, so this is my first blog, my first venture onto the internet… but I really feel called to share my thoughts – and my writing, which I’ve been doing for years! So, excuse the rambling, but I’d better start somewhere!

It’s funny, we just have a rather dull break after what has been a searing heatwave of faintingly hot proportions that we’re just not used to in the UK! I do actually remember the drought of 1976, though I was quite young at the time (cough…)! And, of course, now it’s cloudy and windy, with bits of rain here and there, and it’s rather depressing! We want that blue sky back again! Last week it was getting so hard to live with the heat, day and night, that I prayed earnestly for rain to fall on this dry and thirsty land and I wondered if the physical climate matched the spiritual climate of these times.

I know for myself, I want to go deeper with the Lord, learn more, see more, do more, be more – and really walk with him and be used to minister to others. I am thirsty for more of the things of God and I see it in others around me too. But I also see fear.

I have to tell you, I’ve been talking about writing a blog or publishing some of my scribblings for years – literally – and, then I remembered, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” If I harden my heart because I’m afraid, where is my faith? Ok, so I haven’t got a clue about blogging, or how it all works, but HE does, and in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes. (Romans 8) So here I am!

I guess we all have a fear of being judged. I’ve just led my first away day at church and, although I was a bit nervous as I ploughed my way through pages of bible verses and notes that I’d scribbled down at various times, trying to pull it all together, I was very aware that what the Lord wanted me to talk about was the finished work of Jesus – hence the title of this blog. We know he said, “It is finished!” yet we always seem to want to add something to it ourselves – a bit like having the last word! There is NOTHING more that needs to be done – and he IS the last Word! Here is an excerpt from the third and final talk of the day.

A few weeks ago at the evening prayer meeting, I had a picture of a warship. I was very conscious of the metallic solidity of the ship, grey paint, huge rivets. It was very dark and stormy and although the men manning the guns had waterproofs on, they were soaked to the skin and utterly exhausted, but still they battled on. Then I had a picture of the Captain’s cabin. It was at the heart of the ship and the noise of the battle could not be heard. It was warm and dry and peaceful. I felt the Lord was saying, “Come to the Captain’s cabin. Be at rest, have food and drink, renew your strength.”

We are in a spiritual battle on a daily basis. The enemy doesn’t like it when we step out in faith, when we take ground for the kingdom, when we put Jesus first. He will have his minions place obstacles in our way, try to make us fearful, weak, sick and snatch away our faith. The only way we can not be beaten down and defeated, is to rest in Jesus, draw from him, have our wounds healed and our strength renewed. He IS our Captain in this daily battle.

He has strategies that the enemy couldn’t even imagine. Just think of it… Jesus is betrayed, tortured, killed and buried… Bingo! Another victory for Satan.

Oh… wait… he’s alive…? ALIVE!!! And now they all KNOW that he’s God! Nooooo!!!

Not a good day for the powers of darkness, and now they refuse to admit defeat, but will exude every last drop of hatred towards mankind that they possibly can. And, as for His followers, well… there is a special team appointed to cause trouble!

But the battle is the Lord’s and what we have to do is stand. That doesn’t mean, stand still and do nothing, it means actively stand our ground. We stand on solid rock, our footing is firm, we are in our armour, we have the power of God through the Holy Spirit. If God is for us – who can be against us? That doesn’t mean it’s not tiring though. We can help each other by giving encouragement and praying. Back to Ephesians 6 verse 18 again…

^“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

So, I will be praying for you, dear readers, as I close this, my first entry into The Finished Work.

Thanks for joining me! All the posts you will find here are my own original work unless otherwise credited. Some are old and some are new, but I hope you will find something to challenge or inspire you! If you copy or share my work in any way, please do not alter the content and please credit me as author. Be blessed!