David and Goliath Part 13 Coming At the Devil With Sticks

# 249 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 17:41 So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 43 So the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Goliath comes to the battle with a shield bearer before him, ready to take the offensive against whomever the Israelites send out. He sees the pint-sized David and immediately begins the trash talking. “you're nothing David, worthless, you have no chance against me!” This is the same tactic the devil uses against you and I in our battles with sin, forgiveness, and guilt. His intent is to make us lose heart and give up, as we battle the sin in our own lives. This is a common struggle for the Christian as attested to by the Apostle Paul in Ro 7:18-25, “ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Yes, it's times like this that the devil will try to make you, the backslider, feel utterly useless, and try to discourage you from staying in the fight. Persevere my brother and sister. In fact you can even agree with him in the sense that you are only coming at him with sticks. But what mighty sticks they are! For they form the cross of Christ, where the devil was forever defeated. Come to the cross and lean on the promises of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He will give you give you the victory and silence the accuser.