PART 5 I AM AN OVERCOMER

How can we walk in perfect love?

5

Walking in Perfect Love

In my younger years, I found myself without any close friends. My father’s jobs determined when and where we’d live. We’d stay in one place for a short period and then move on to another. When it seemed I had made friends with certain people in the neighborhood, off we went.

As I grew older, tensions with my dad increased. I wouldn’t say I liked the all-male high school that I was forced to attend. I was told to quit a job that I applied for and was hired as a maintenance man part-time after school and worked for him when he bought a local spa and grille business. After graduation, I set my sites on going to a particular college but was told I had to go to the local state college instead because of financial constraints. When I turned 16, I was promised whatever car I wanted, but as it turned out, the one I ultimately chose, my father didn’t like, so that ended that.

Looking back now, I realize that these events and many others caused me to internalize rejection and subsequently develop low self-esteem. The major decisions that affected me, to which I responded with dissatisfaction, weren’t considered. My sense of personal worth had been stifled. Standing up in front of people, whether about a college class presentation or something else, was frightening. Self-doubt would always be at the forefront. Then, something happened in my life that turned things around.

In 1977, I had a spiritual encounter with God. It was brought to my attention by a local evangelist that if I confessed to being a sinner, expressing a desire to turn from them and believed in Jesus Christ as to who He is and what he’s accomplished, one of the members of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, would come into my body and indwell providing me with divine peace and joy along with many additional blessings. So, I repented of my sins, professed belief in Jesus Christ, and received the Holy Spirit.

After this encounter, I attended the church with which the evangelist was affiliated. However, I had little knowledge of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Surprisingly, during one Sunday morning worship service, I was asked to come up to the front of the church and speak over a microphone, sharing my testimony to the congregation.

Walking down the aisle up to the pulpit’s microphone, I was scared to death, my body shaking like a leaf. I remember silently asking God to help me calm down. To my amazement, the storm completely subsided, and I was engulfed with a saturating peace that took control of my emotions. I gave my testimony and realized there was more to this Christian life than I could imagine. God’s presence overruling my fear was something I’d never experienced before. I thanked God for answering my prayer and wondered how I could access this peace more consistently.

Fear can be our greatest asset or our worst nightmare. This sounds hard to believe. How can it be a benefit?

I’d like to leave you with a story about what happens when one man of God lets fear rule him, and another operates in a different type of fear. Please turn your Bibles to the Book of 1 Samuel.

        

Samuel And Saul

Suggested Reading: 1 Samuel 15:1-26

By divine commission, Samuel, a prophet and judge of Israel, commanded King Saul, Israel’s first king, to destroy Agag, the king of the Amalekites, along with every man and beast. However, he disobeyed the divine injunction by taking Agag alive and sparing all the best of the cattle and that which was deemed valuable. Instead of pursuing the campaign and finishing the removal of both man and beast, Saul and his army returned to Gilgal.

1 Samuel 16:14 But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

Because of his continued disobedience, God took the on-resting Spirit’s influence away from him and replaced it with an evil spirit. God informed Samuel that because of Saul’s insubordination, he was to choose another who would become the next king.

 

Saul and David and Goliath

Suggested Reading: 1 Samuel 17:1-58

The Israelites, under the leadership of their king, Saul, were preparing to battle the Philistines. A man of the Philistines, Goliath (who was nine feet nine inches tall and skilled in arms), put forth a challenge that the Jews send forth one man to fight him. Unfortunately, no one in the army came forward, not even the king.

In the meantime, David was tending his father Jesse’s sheep and was asked to bring food provisions for his three elder brothers, who were enlisted men. When he arrived, he overheard Goliath’s challenge and let the king know that he’d be the one to fight him. However, Saul questioned his preparedness. David told him of his prior conquests with a lion and a bear that occurred while shepherding.

Instead of engaging Goliath with a sword and shield, David’s weapons were a sling and five small stones. As he approached the big guy, Goliath belittled him.

1 Samuel 17:45-46a Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand;…

However, David responded with words that showed another type of confidence, i.e., fearing the Lord.

As the initial stone left the sling, it hit Goliath right in the middle of his forehead, thus stunning him and causing him to fall. Then, David took Goliath’s sword and slew him.

 

Samuel and David

Suggested Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-23

The Lord told Samuel that Israel’s next king would come from one of the eight sons of the family of Jesse. The son that God chose, a shepherd boy, was named David. Because of the torments of the evil spirit, Saul was advised by his servants to find someone who was skillful in playing the harp so that it might interrupt his preoccupation with negative assumptions.

It was disclosed to the king that a man named David possessed such a skill. He was described as a keeper of the sheep, a cunning player on the harp, a mighty valiant man, a man of war, prudent in matters, a comely person, and one accompanied by the Lord. So, he was brought before Saul to play the harp. When he did, the evil spirit departed from him.

 

What can we learn from King Saul’s roller coaster decisions?

It’s what we do before the trials and tests that determine whether we have what’s needed, divine credentials, to face our giants. David learned to lean on God during his time as a shepherd boy. When the moment came for the encounter with a daunting foe, he was aware of his prior victories and the communion with His God that provided him with the assurance and direction to go forward.

Like him, are you ready for the upcoming spiritual battles? Has fear been your handicap? Well, let it be no more. Memorize and meditate on the following verses and apply them in your thinking when a fearful situation is brought before you. I’m not saying that fear and its effects won’t continue to rear their ugly head, but by focusing on God’s prescriptions in His Word, the tremors in the body will become less and less.

1 Samuel 17:45-46a Then said David to the Philistine,… I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts,… This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand;…

Exodus 4:10-12 And Moses said unto the Lord,… I am not eloquent… I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said… I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear (cowardice); but of power (the power which the resurrection of Christ has for instructing, reforming, elevating, tranquilizing, the soul;²⁰ spiritual strength that enables Christians to be victorious over adverse circumstances and to remain faithful to their Lord²¹), and of love (for other people) and of a sound mind (the bringing of our passions under control).                       

Proverbs 3:25a, 26a Be not afraid (from or before some person or thing) of sudden (an event that happens without warning) fear (fright)…For the Lord shall be thy confidence (security in the presence of threatening conditions),...    

Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper (someone who responds to a call for help), and I will not fear (the harm or injury of) what man shall do unto me.

Another aspect of my former life that I had difficulty in learning how to approach it from a spiritual perspective is found in the following chapter.