Eagles Over America
May 1, 2023
The Enemy’s Champion Is Dead!
1 Samuel 17 - 18
By Pamela Gudgeon
There once was a rift in the Church I was attending. I had just become a Christian and the first teaching I received was called “Love is the Key.” The Pastor spoke about the powerful covenant between Jonathan and David in 1 Samuel 18. For the imagery he was trying to relate, he brought two men up to the center stage and they hugged one another. The teaching was concerning the kind of love that causes a person to sacrifice their life for another; the Pastor said “brothers and sisters in Christ are supposed to love one another, even unto sacrifice or death.” I think Jesus, through this Pastor, was trying to bring healing in a broken Church at the time. It worked. It was obvious that it meant something to the congregation by the utter silence. The message of overpowering love had filled the room!
Into the Mind of Jonathan
I started reading about what happened before Jonathan and David became these personally committed covenant friends. Goliath, the Philistine, had just been put to death by a young fellow named David. Almost everyone knows David’s age-old story about the 5 smooth stones and the unorthodox method he used to face-down the giant. Jonathan had proven himself to be a strong warrior and was heir to the throne through his father, Saul. There were some real tense, fearful moments with Israel as they contemplated how they were going to survive the warring Philistine threat, just prior to the epic battle between David and Goliath. Israel was on the brink of total devastation: someone had to die.
David’s time had come. He had been held in secret since he was a child with Samuel’s prophecy of the promised kingship. He was groomed from his youth for this moment, much like Esther’s defined journey. In this respect, both Esther and David were viewed as heroes that saved the nation of God! In order for them to accomplish their mission at that critical season in history, they had to know the truth and develop their powerful faith in God, knowing the winning warrior spirit that pushed them forward in obedience to their Creator!
Israel and the Philistines were on the mountains, and in between them was the valley, where the famous, ancient battle took place. I am sure Jonathan was gasping with intrigue as he watched this smaller, courageous, young teenager and this large, arrogant, man commence to save their own nations with strength of physical battle. In his natural thought process, he may have been keenly aware that there was no way this small teen that chose no traditional armor could be the victor! How could he possibly do this? Jonathan saw the answer was in the wisdom of God. He turned over his kingship inheritance to David soon after that breathtaking encounter, as he gave him his own robe and battle gear. The Lord won the great battle that day; it will always remind everyone, great and small, that anointed abundance awaits us if we only choose to trust Him, just as David did.
Regarding the Present Church and the Parallel
We Have Become the Giants
The problem we face today in our evil culture is not really the giants in the land: it is the fact that we, as God’s people, have not allowed ourselves to be groomed to fight evil properly. We have become weakened through the years by stealth which includes: man-made hidden agendas formed through ecumenical corporatism, maligned teachings of the definition of peace, and yes, many more evils that masquerade as truth. We accept things like laws that allow the death of babies, even after the birth of a child, the President Johnson edict about the Church being non-political behind the pulpit, as well as (going back even farther) the many contrived and unnecessary wars that have murdered the masses.
Now, because of many sins of omission and commission, we are receiving the brunt of the spiritual war that we are encountering today. Church, we are on the wrong path, that is, we are losing our right to speak about Jesus and what He did for us, which is the very foundation of life itself!!!
Ignoring fear is NOT bliss. If we continue in silence and non-action, this same mind-set becomes mortifyingly heinous as we become part of the problem and not the solution! For instance, if we as the body know (without a doubt) what is good and what is evil, and take no action to alleviate the suffering of others, we become worse than the specter of the evil giants themselves: the epitome of fence-sitting spectators.
I hear a funeral dirge for the nation if God’s people do not arise! According to the ancient sins of Jerusalem in Ezekiel 22:26, in which we are repeating: “we have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have we shown the difference between the unclean and the clean”!
How Do We See, What Is Our Gift, How Do We Find the Divine Path?
When we see His plan for us without doubting and turn from our wicked ways, there is always grace. However, so many years of ignorance has taken its toll on our expected righteous ascension. Our hope is in the Lord for transformation. According to the book of Revelation, we, His people, will ultimately be saved. It is unfortunate, though, that the hidden battle is only now being revealed. We should become not only a child of peace as we divide truth from lies, but a child of war to fight against the forces of darkness in high places!
We should be asking God what our talent is for fighting this battle.
Have I grabbed your attention yet? The next question should be, “how do I find the warrior deep inside me?”
“How” may be the hardest part of this process. It all comes down to your relationship with God, His Word, and what He anoints you to do or say. A lot of it has to do with faith: that is faith without doubting.
Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies that had enough faith to search out God’s abundance in the Promised Land. The others were destined to die in bondage, so to speak. Rebellion will never work for an individual and it will never work for God’s people as a whole either. There is no compromise with God. Without faithful action with God as our guide, we will be known as (heaven forbid) the New Fallen Church.
Find the path to victory for you and other people of God. Get out of the fox hole and get in the line of fire now. Apathy makes the giant grow increasingly evil, action takes him down!!
Pamela Gudgeon
The Eagle Flies Again!
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