You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 1)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17:51 “Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled”
Each man or woman has a giant in his life. This can be a huge problem that you have already defeated or the one that is constantly in front of you. It may even be there and you do not notice it. Problems that often attract people’s attention are usually material and financial problems, physical such as incurable diseases, bareness ... but the real giants are rather spiritual and are not easily seen. They do not attract much attention from people. Yet any material problem has its roots in the spiritual world and therefore if the giant is defeated in the spiritual world, the physical world will only bow.
Throughout this teaching, we will practically study chapter of 1st Samuel 17, which speaks of the death of Goliath by the young David. I do not know how many giant problems you are facing but if you read this teaching until the end, you will discover that the giants are mortal despite their threat of wanting us to believe that there is nothing we can do and that the solution is only to give in. The aim of this teaching is not only to prove that the giant problems may die, but it is also to show how to get them killed and cut off the head.
I who write this message, was facing the giants’ resistance for a long time. I'm not ashamed to admit that many times I was afraid despite the prayers and experience in the Lord until the Holy Spirit has revealed to me in a special way that the giants are mortal. In this teaching, I will reveal the revelations that the Holy Spirit whispered to me in secret. I warn you that the devil trembles just by hearing this and he can do everything so that you do not follow this teaching (which contains twelve parts) until the end.
If it happens that you miss one of the twelve parts, contact me and I will update you.
My inspiration is based on the giant Goliath facing the people of Israel.
To be continued in Part 2
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 2)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 10 "And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together"
I must first recall that the Philistine giant called Goliath represents any problem that seems insurmountable and even scaring. If you read in the same chapter from verse 4 to 7 (1 Samuel 17: 4-7), it describes how he was scaring by his greatness, his bronze armor, his bronze javelin between his shoulders, his spear that was like a weaver’s beam…which is a spiritual symbol of a terrifying situation created by the devil.
By the verse of the day, the Philistine provoked God's people by saying: “I defy the armies of Israel this day! ". Since the day you accepted Jesus as your Savior, the devil defied you and it could be that you are still in a weak position. Jesus said that the thief comes only to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10: 10) and Peter said in his letter that we should be sober and vigilant because our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5: 8).
In these two verses, it is clear that the mission of the devil is not only to block us or to bother us in what we do, but he wants to kill us, to destroy us and to devour us. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians says that we have to wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this age and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6: 12).
Let’s study a bit on 1 Samuel 17: 8 “Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them: Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me ". In other words, he told them that he represented everybody from his people, and if he died, Israel would have defeated all the Philistines.
Later in this teaching, you will notice that when Goliath will die, all the Philistines will flee spiritually ... this means that when you manage to defeat the giant that opposes you spiritually, all the problems (physical and material) related to him will flee immediately. We will talk about it later.
The mission of the giant’s words is to sow fear and the passage says that when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid (1 Samuel 17: 11). Spiritually speaking, the giant words are negative thoughts thrown by the devil to show you the possibility of disaster in order to generate fear.
In part three, we will see the strategy of the devil to discourage us by sowing fear in our hearts.
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 3)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 33 "And Saul said to David: You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth"
Every time you take an important decision to face the devil, there will always be circumstances to discourage you. When you take a firm decision to pray or fast, there will be circumstances or important visits to disturb you.
The devil is clever enough to use people who love us, who come as trying to give us some advice but in reality it’s all about discouraging words, and if we listen to them, we fall into his trap. Take the example of Jesus: When he was about to announce to the disciples that the time had come to suffer and die, Peter could not stand it and took him apart to suggest a solution, saying: " Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You! But He turned and said to Peter: Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men "(Matt 16: 22-23). Peter thought he was encouraging him to save him but he did not know that he was used by the devil. When Jesus discerned it, He didn’t rebuke Peter but Satan while talking to Pierre. He said: "Get behind me, Satan!”
In the verse of the day (1 Sam 17: 33), King Saul was desperate but impressed by the little David who was confident of defeating the giant Goliath. Based on his experience, Saul said to David: “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth". You may be in a situation where a friend or a relative is trying to convince you that it’s worthless to try because you do not have a college degree or you do not have any influential people in your family. Maybe someone keeps reminding you that your sickness is incurable and that you can only wait for death; Even if your doctor told you that you cannot give birth, I rather suggest you to listen to the word of God which proclaims that what is impossible with men is possible with God (Luke 18: 27) .
Another strategy of the devil to discourage us is to distract us with reasoning consistently in connections with common sense. Eliab, David's older brother was angry because of David’s determination and told him: “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle "(1 Sam 17: 28). Logically, the big brother was right because the few sheep abandoned in the desert was not at all a good thing but David could see more than a few sheep: He saw the glory of God by cutting off the head of Goliath. You should therefore be vigilant because the devil can even use the closest people in your life.
To be continued in Part Four
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 4)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 25 " So the 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 with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel "
It is interesting to notice that although David was so eager to kill Goliath in order to take away the reproach from Israel, he was still interested in knowing the reward reserved for those who would kill him. The verse says: "Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? "(1 Sam 17: 26).
The verse of the day (1 Samuel 17: 25) clearly shows us the reward promised by the king for the person who would kill Goliath. The verse says that the king would enrich him with great riches, he would give him his daughter and would give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel. Three opportunities were on the table: a mountain of wealth, marrying the daughter of the king and setting free the house of his father in Israel, which means that not only the one who would kill Goliath would be rich, but all his family would automatically be so by the king. The promise was obviously more than attractive but despite this, no one was able to take advantage of it.
It is therefore important to know that behind every giant demon, there is a multitude of blessings and that we will only have access to them when he will die. Even Jesus talked about it when he spoke of wealth found in the house of a strong man. He said: "Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house"(Matt 12: 29).
Here the strong man is the devil that keeps our blessings and the only way to have them is to bind him and enter his house and spoil his goods which are actually our goods. Binding him is good but I’d rather cut his head as David did. The devil must be beaten and defeated until he moves away from us as it is written in James 4: 7: "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”
As I often say, most of the Christians are passive but there is one thing you must not ignore: If you do not resist the devil, he will know how to enter in your life and you will be deprived of many blessings that belong to you. Nevertheless, you should consider the fact that it may take time to get there.
In the fifth part, we will discover the secret of the strength of David
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 5)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 37 "Moreover David 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 this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you!"
While King Saul tried to convince David by showing him how much he could not beat the giant Goliath (1 Sam 17: 33), David soon realized that it is his turn to convince the king. In fact, he revealed the source of his strength and audacity. Here is his explanation: “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God"(1 Sam 17: 34-36).
After such testimony, no one would doubt about David although he was only a child. A lion weighs 496 lbs and if a small child as David came to strike him and snatch the sheep of his mouth by grabbing the throat to kill him, it is clear that he did not do it on his own strength. David realized that naturally he could not kill a lion or a bear, but God was present each time the sheep were attacked. It is after such a very persuasive demonstration that Saul ended up saying: "Go, and the Lord be with you! "(1 Sam 17: 37).
What lesson can we learn from it? If God has rescued you in the past, he is ready to do the same today and every day because our God is eternal and does not change. The Bible confirms that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13: 8), which means He never changes.
The works and miracles that God has made in the past in your life should be a source of faith every time you are stuck. Instead of fixing your eyes on the problem in front of you, you would better take few minutes looking back to the past to remember how God has already delivered you. Remember how you were desperate and you thought all was lost, and suddenly a door got opened! You were happy, you thanked the Lord, you have even testified to others about what the Lord has done for you but now that you find yourself in front of another obstacle, you seem to lose faith and let fear invade you. If this is the case for you, I suggest you get up every morning and confess this little sentence: "If you have rescued me in the past, you can do so today in the name of Jesus".
To be continued in Part 6
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 6)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 45 "Then David said to the Philistine: You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied"
David’s message to the Philistines was very clear because he wanted Goliath to understand that he came against him with a sword, with a spear and with a javelin while David was leaning on the Lord his God. Walking against Goliath in the name of the Lord of hosts simply means walking relying on God.
When we face a problem and more particularly a material or financial problem, we make the mistake of building our faith on our knowledge, our degrees, our family members or our friends ... who are the image of the sword, the spear and the javelin.
The best strategy is to build our faith on the Word of God and face the giants in the name of Jesus. Sometimes it is shocking to see how one can be in Church for years listening to the Word of God but without coming to understand the importance of the name of Jesus.
Let me talk a little about the name of Jesus: While trying to describe the name of Jesus, Paul wrote to the Philippians, saying: " Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth"(Phil 2: 9-10). The passage says that God raised Jesus' name above every name. Here I have to remind you that every problem has a name. The name can be cancer, rent payments, unemployment, bareness... but the important thing is that the name is below the name of Jesus. We often find ourselves below the problems while in the name of Jesus we are supposed to be above.
The same verse goes further by reminding us that every knee shall bow before the name of Jesus. Those who kneel before Jesus' name are the angels of heaven, men (on earth) and even demons (under the earth). When we face the devil, we must recall that he must kneel before the name of Jesus in accordance with the scriptures, and if Jesus is in us, the devil is supposed to kneel when we confess that powerful name.
I would like to share a very important verse in my Christian life because it helped me to penetrate where I could never enter. The verse says: " Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you "(Luke 10: 19). Let us pray so that we should be aware of this authority and especially for the real revelation of "nothing shall by any means hurt us"
To be continued in Part 7
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 7)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 39 "David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul: I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them. So David took them off"
If you are reading this teaching for the first time, I suggest you read the last six teachings to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion because I will write assuming you have already read all the first six teachings.
All the teaching is based on the confrontation between the child David and Goliath after all the army of Israel was not able to appear before him. We had understood that the giant Goliath embodied all kinds of problems we can face and before which we often tremble. As I already said, David’s confidence was based on his personal experience with the Lord, who often gave him supernatural strength to fight and to kill the lions and the bears when his sheep were attacked. It was this same confidence that made King Saul gave him the chance to face Goliath in spite of his childhood. Saul thought that if the Lord had truly delivered him from the lions' mouth, He could certainly deliver him from Goliath.
The verse of the day (1 Sam 17: 39) shows King Saul trying to force David to bear the warrior’s armor to ensure the victory but David realized that it was rather an obstacle and ended up taking them off. He even added that he could not walk with them because he has not tested them.
By this we see the contrast between two very different options: the carnal (or physical) option of King Saul and the David’s spiritual option. Whenever you find yourself in front of a giant problem, there is in your mind one of the two options: Either you have the carnal option that you have to fight and defend yourself or the spiritual option in which you directly attack the problems by using the spiritual weapons. The Bible says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (Eph 6: 12); One of the very common mistakes among Christians, is that they want to solve any problem carnally or humanely while ignoring that its root is spiritual. David understood this and we are supposed to understand it better than him because we have the Bible that he had not.
Let us lean on God’s ability and not on our own ability.
To be continued in Part 8
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 8)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 42 "And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking"
Today I will talk about how the devil sees us. Goliath being the image of the devil, the verse of the day said that when he saw David, he disdained him in seeing a child in him. It is normal that Goliath had despised David because he had never met him before and he knew nothing of him and his faith. If Goliath had not died on the spot, he would have changed the language the next time he would meet little David.
Perhaps today the devil despises you in seeing in you a child in faith even though he knows that in you lies a great spiritual force that can destroy him. He knows very well that his strategy to manipulate you with fear works every time and he fully enjoys it. He is not afraid of what we say or pretend to say, but he is afraid of our strike force.
The day you will give him a serious blow in prayer in the name of Jesus, he will learn to take you seriously. One day some Jews envied Paul because they saw how demons trembled before him and they ventured to imitate him but the devil asked them a simple question: "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" (Acts 19: 15). In fact the demons knew Jesus and Paul from the beating they received from them. If you are a man or woman of prayer, demons and Satanists in your neighborhood and your country know you and spend hours trying to figure out how to neutralize you. There is nothing that disturbs the works of the devil like prayer. I heard a testimony of a Christian converted after serving the devil in the spiritual world, he asserts that it is the prayers of the saints that shake the kingdom of Satan. He said that even in the street, he could recognize a Christian who prays and the one who does not pray.
The Christian who prays a lot and on a very regular basis becomes a kind of "Wanted" in the region and sometimes the demons of the region are forced to get support from other places but the good and encouraging news is that the strength in the Christian causing trouble to the devil is stronger than all these demons together and the more we become important to the devil, the more we become so before the Lord because our victory can only honor and glorify Him. Some Christians see the giant problems with the eyes of Gehazi instead of seeing them with the eyes of Elisha. Hear what Elisha told his servant Gehazi: " Do not fear, for those who are with us are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha "(2 Kings 6: 16-17).
As Paul wrote to the Corinthians (2 Cor 5: 7), let us learn to walk by faith and not by sight.
To be continued in Part 9
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 9)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 48 " So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine"
First of all I would like to consider the verse 24 (1 Samuel 17: 24) which said: "And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid".
The verse clearly shows how the Israelites were afraid of Goliath because just by seeing him, they fled from him. In life there are some circumstances that scare us just by seeing them and cause us to flee because of fear. There are specific phone numbers that make us tremble when they appear on the screens of our mobile phones and we prefer not to answer because of fear, which is another form of escape. Some flee to leave the town because of the pressure from banks and individuals.
When facing the giant problems, there are two kinds of reactions: Either we tremble to finally run away, or we trust the Lord and face the giant. The verse of the day (1 Sam 17: 48) shows how the vision of David was opposite to the rest of Israel. The verse says that as soon as the Philistine began drawing near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet him. Notice that David did not head Goliath walking but running! He was so excited to catch his prey when thousands were shaking and hiding.
Another point that caught my attention is the nature of the words that were exchanged between David and Goliath. Everyone was saying hard words to discourage the other. Goliath said: "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” (1 Sam 17: 44) and David said: "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied "(1 Sam 17: 45).
There is a great power in the word and the devil knows it very well. He will use the people around you and some will do it thinking they do it for your good. They will show you all kinds of danger in the name of common sense but you should keep in mind that common sense has nothing to do with the reality of the spiritual world. If the devil speaks to you through negative thoughts by showing you the possible risks, talk to him by quoting the promises that prove his loss and our position in Christ at the right hand of the Father. I often remind him that I am above all his principality, all his power and his dominion (Ephesians 1: 21).
The devil must learn from your mouth that "Nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10: 19).
In the tenth part, we will see how to kill a giant.
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 10)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 51 " Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled"
After killing him, David took Goliath's sword and cut off his head. The sword is the Word of God if it is in the hands of a child of God (Eph 6: 17) but the devil also knows how to fight us using the same Word of God (Luke 4: 9-10).
If we do not keep the sword (God's Word) in our hands, the enemy will use it against us. Immediately after the killing, David took Goliath's sword to cut off his head. Beware of a giant (problem) that simply die because some pretend to die or just faint. The sword (Word of God) should not only help us to kill the giant, but we also need to cut off his head. Whenever you confess the biblical promises in faith in prayer, you are in the process of stabbing a giant and everything will depend on your attitude and your faith. The Bible clearly says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (2 Cor 10: 4).
The best way to scare away the devil is to submit to God according to James 4: 7: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you ". Submission gives space to God's hand while pride opens the door to the devil. The more we humble ourselves, the stronger we become spiritually. Having knowledge of this very effective formula, the devil tries every means to spread pride in our hearts. It is for this reason that many servants of God are slaves of pride even if they stay at the Lord's work. Despite the pride, a servant of God can continue to preach, to work miracles as if nothing had happened but in reality he is very weak and vulnerable and spiritually shameful things are usually done behind the curtain but God covers him for a while because of his elect.
Also in the verse of the day (1 Sam 17: 51), it is said that after the death of Goliath who was the hero of the Philistines, they preferred to flee.
Here is how things work in the spiritual world: Behind every giant problem, there is a multitude of demons that rely on him and if you manage to kill him and cut his head in prayer and faith, all those little demons will flee.
To be continued in Part 11
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 11)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 17: 53 " Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents"
As I often say, many Christians are very passive and content with crumbs instead of bread. One of the devil’s terms given by Jesus is “the thief” because he said: "The thief comes only to steal ..." (John 10: 10). He steals all that God has prepared for us even before we were born. Since the fall of Adam, the devil took advantage in stealing his inheritance until today. He robs us on all levels: spiritual, physical and financial.
It is time to wake up and start claiming our inheritance in Christ. If a multimillionaire bequeaths his fortune to his son, the son could remain poor all his life if he ignores his inheritance. From the moment he learns that he is the heir and he discovers the documents certifying the right of his inheritance, then he can claim his fortune. On the other hand, he will never get his money if he keeps the documents at home.
Misery is not in God's plan. That is why we should claim our inheritance every day. There are a lot of things that we do not get, not because it is not the will of God, but because we do not ask. That is why James wrote: “you do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4: 2).
The verse of the day (1 Sam 17: 53) shows the reaction of the Israelites after the death of Goliath. While the Philistines had fled after the death of Goliath, the Israelites pursued and plunder their property to take them home. In this same teaching, we have already spoken of the condition set by Jesus to plunder the house of a giant. He said: "Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house"(Matt 12: 29).
I do not know if you noticed that it took a few minutes for David to kill Goliath? The conclusion is that Goliath was not the real problem for David because a real problem cannot be solved in minutes. David had already been anointed to succeed Saul as the king of Israel and in the same book, the Bible shows us how Saul fought David for years and wanted to physically eliminate him. This leads us to understand that the giant problems before us are not our real problems but we must be prepared to deal with the consequences of the presence of the giant.
We will end this teaching in the twelfth part
Chris Ndikumana
You can defeat the giant of your life (Part 12)
Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 20: 1 "Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?"
Today we close this teaching that comes to last two weeks and I hope that all who have read early have discovered some things hidden by the enemy in order to harm us but the great promise of Jesus for us is that "Nothing can harm us" (Luke 10: 19).
As I said in the previous part, the real enemy of David was not Goliath because a real problem cannot disappear in minutes. Saul the king of Israel was his real problem, and the verse of the day shows us how much he was confused because of the many attacks on his own life. Apparently David understood nothing because he asked Jonathan: "What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?"
Likewise, giant problems that are constantly before us are not our real problems. Our biggest enemy is the one who can separate us from God's presence forever which means sin and it dwells in our flesh. Therefore, my conclusion is that my biggest enemy is the flesh unlike those who say that it is Satan. Satan uses the flesh to manipulate us and acts on the basis of what is in our flesh. He will not make you fall into adultery if he does not find it in your flesh. There are some sins that are already crucified and when the devil comes, he does not find them. Regarding the flesh and its passions, the Bible says: "And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5: 24).
Unfortunately, to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires does not happen in minutes, as it was the case of David and Goliath, but we must wait and constantly fight for years, the time that the vices and weaknesses die one by one. This is why I call the flesh the true giant that needs to be crucified every day.
Here is the end of this teaching but I must warn you that believing is not enough because the weapon that destroys and breakdown the giants in the world is nothing other than PRAYER and by that I mean: Constant prayer.
This only works for those who are born again. If you are not born again or if you do not understand the meaning of being born again, write to me.
God bless you all
Chris Ndikumana