Sister Jeannie…
Do you want relief? Or do you want freedom?
Two days ago I was on a walk and the Holy Spirit said, “Do you want relief? Or do you want freedom? Because if you want relief, once you get it, you’ll back off. And backing off means you just keep backing off. But if you want freedom, you’ll pay the price for freedom.”
And we want freedom. With freedom comes relief. But also comes another Goliath and another Goliath and another Goliath and another Goliath. But let’s put that the most accurate Bible way. With freedom comes relief and also comes another victory, another victory, another victory, another victory. With freedom comes relief and also comes more freedom and more freedom and more freedom and more freedom.
So today, right now, Father, you shape our hearts to see freedom.
The Word says, When I come back, will I find faith on the earth? Will I find fervent faith on the earth? Will I find freedom lovers, freedom takers, freedom payers? He already paid the price, but His trust in us, His massive fervent love for us brings us the opportunity to walk that out.
Prayed…
So, Father, burn in our hearts today the love for freedom, the revelation of freedom. Show us where we’ve been deceived, where we’re seeking freedom when really we’re just seeking relief.
Holy Spirit, you bring us to another place today, and we keep that territory and then we take more. I thank you that we are not lulled to sleep.
What will lull you to sleep?
You know exhaustion, delay, and pressure will lull you to sleep. If you’re just seeking relief. Think about it. So you have that pressure coming at you and you can’t take the pressure. So you just go to sleep. It’s not going to get any better if you go to sleep. The pressure comes at you. You lean into Him like Jesus did.
You know, Jesus didn’t even want to go to the cross. There was no sin in Him. He didn’t sin, not even a teeny tiny bit. And He’s our example of “God, I don’t want to do this. Isn’t there another way?” But there wasn’t another way. He leaned into the Father. He leaned into His will. And in that leaning, the joy was set before Him. The joy of freedom, the joy of your freedom. So let us not take advantage of the cross that’s empty.
The stations of the cross…
You know, in the chapel, there are the stations of the cross. And when I first started coming to prayer, I would just look at those stations and let Him minister to me the price that He paid. And then in the end is the empty cross. And that is yours. The empty cross, the finished work, walking that salvation out with fear and trembling. If you’re not walking it out, you can start today. You can start right now.
Prayed…
Father, all of us have areas where we’ve only sought relief. Right now, we set our hearts before you, and we walk toward the joy of freedom. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Jesus never offered self-pity…
You know, we were praying this out on Monday that He will never comfort you to complacency. He will always come for you to victory. Jesus never, ever offered self-pity because it’s a pit! He offered compassion, but compassion says, “Do you want to get well? Get up! Do you want to get well? Whatever that means. Do you want to get well? Let me comfort you to victory, but never to complacency.”
The Gospel of no excuses…
It’s time for the gospel of no excuses. It’s time that we be empowered by His goodness, by the finished work. And no longer allow an excuse or pressure to cause us to fall asleep. There is an urgency in this hour, and we are about to take massive ground. But we will not back off. In fact, we will never back off. Do you hear me? You are not one that backs off. You are also one that is strengthened and comforted by Him. We can’t perform our way into this. We are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. Our works won’t get this done. But faith, knowledge of who we are in Him is what gets this done. We have an opportunity, right now.
Prayed…
Holy Spirit, you minister freedom to us. Father, we expect to see freedom in our land… in the schools… policies of freedom today.
Father, we thank you that freedom is crying out in the streets of our states… city … nation. We thank you that freedom is being heard… being played out.
David and Goliath…
So we’re going to go back to David and Goliath. So the Word says that the fervent effectual prayer of the righteous availeth much. We do not lose our fervency because we are freedom takers. We are freedom carriers. So if you picture David… Now let’s think about this. And this is where we’re at right now with the church. So David is just being obedient. And he’s going on to serve his brothers. And here’s David too. He’s been in the presence of God the whole time. So he’s walking in the spirit, completely and fully in the spirit. In fact in 1st Samuel 17:37, it says that when he saw Goliath, the way he responded to him was the Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
That’s what he said to Saul. And then he said the same thing to Goliath. But let’s just picture this for a minute. So here’s David. When I give you this illustration and you imagine this, imagine the church, imagine yourself. Imagine the church, here’s David out taking care of the sheep, pretty serene. He’s got the Psalm 23 going on. The Psalm 91. He’s got that whole thing going on. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He sets a table for me in the presence of my enemies. And in those times, he killed the lion and the bear. And boy did that seem like an accomplishment. But God always takes us higher. He always brings us to greater freedom. And with that freedom comes more pressure… a greater confrontation. And with that freedom, God will use the familiar to come at you.
David asks about the reward for killing Goliath…
So David’s out there. The entire army is afraid of this giant that’s over two times the size of David. And David hasn’t been in the army. He’s been with the sheep. There are many places that God is calling you into. You haven’t even been in that area. I mean, it would seem like you have no credibility at all. So there he goes out and the entire army for 40 days has been listening to this giant and they’re all terrified. David is just there to serve his brothers. And it says in Samuel 17:26-30, “And David said to the man standing by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?” He saw that that was an enemy of Israel. And that that enemy had to be dealt with for the reproach to go. He even saw the importance of that. They were too busy being afraid to even consider dealing with that enemy.
That’s not who you are…
That’s not you. That’s not who you are. Because David had been in the presence of God, he had reward on his mind. Faith knows that God is and that He’s a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. When I return, will I find faith on the earth? Will I find people that know that God is and He’s a rewarder? Will I find that? He has reward on his mind.
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine…
Back to verse 26. “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Even David saw those armies that were afraid as the armies of the living God. He saw their potential. He saw their destiny, even when they were afraid.
David’s oldest brother was angry with him…
You know, when you’re in His presence, you see the greatness in the people of God, even when they’re afraid. Did David one time wonder if he was qualified? It didn’t even occur to him because his mind was on the purpose and the plans of God. And the men told him, Thus shall be done for the man who kills him. Now Eliya his eldest brother, the one with the most credibility in the family heard what David said to the men. And anger was kindled against David and said, Why did you come here? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and evilness of heart, for you came down that you might see the battle. And David said, What have I done now? Was it not a harmless question?
David’s knowledge of who he was in God disturbed his brother…
So this has been going on with David and his eldest brother for a while now. Many things have been going on with you concerning the familiar for a while now. You know, for his eldest brother to say, What are you doing now? David’s knowledge of who he was in God disturbed his eldest brother. It really irritated him. So here he is in the middle, seeing the army of God as the living army of God, even though they were afraid. Here he is, seeing the enemy for who they are. Even though the enemy appears to be twice his size and his brother is irritated.
Faith will look like presumption to those not in faith…
Faith will look like presumption for those that aren’t in faith. You just have to accept that. Just accept it. Be willing to pay the price for freedom. Throughout this entire passage, David is constantly willing to pay the price for freedom because he’s carried freedom with him. Because he’s out there with God. Because he knows who he belongs to. Because he’s killed the lion and the bear in service to protect the sheep. His heart is toward the people of God and nothing, absolutely nothing deters him.
That is the church today. We declare today that nothing deters the church. Nothing. In the urgency of the hour and it was an urgent hour! And David responded in kind.
Prayed…
Father, we lay this all out before you. Without you, we can’t do anything. And with you, all things are possible.
Father, we submit our hearts to you right now. We submit ourselves to asking the question and we humble ourselves to the answer. “Go in and recover all.”