He is my Stronghold !
1 Samuel 23:18 “So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house. “
Oh, how I love these words: “David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house!” Though he is left behind in the woods, open to the attack of the enemy, while his beloved friend would be going back to his own house, yet we see David not getting emotional about it. Earlier we see him sob like a kid when Jonathan left him, but now we see a different David here, he no more wept when his friend Jonathan bid him good bye. Why? David has found another friend and that’s GOD!
Dear friend, there will be times when people will have to get back to their own home, but remember you’ve got One who will stay close to you always. However close or intimate may you be with anyone, yet you may have to separate one day, but God says, “I am with you always”(Mathew 28:20) It took a while for David to understand God’s love for Him. Having fled from his home, wife, friend, palace, without even a roof above his head and with an enemy hounding him day and night, now David begins to find security in God. This was the greatest turning point in his life! He found a stronghold where he could hide where no one could reach him, where no enemy dare touch him! The Bible says, in 1 Samuel 23:14 “And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.”
Friend, we can never sing like David, “I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold”, if we have not gone through what David went through. Jesus cannot walk into your heart when it is filled with the world. Got that? I had been holding on to many relationships close to my heart, but God had to tare me apart from such strongholds so the He could be my only Stronghold. Several years back, I remember the day I ran sobbing behind the train which was carrying my mom, who was leaving to go to another town in India. How silly! Yes, I was! I was no kid though, I was a mother of a kid then! Astonished, my husband saw my tears of anguish! One after the other God took me through a series of painful process of separation and consecration. You cannot be consecrated without being separated
I still vividly remember the picture of the railway station today, you give me a canvass, I can paint it. God took me from there and made me the kind of woman now who speaks words of encouragement to the hearts of many everyday around the world. The woman my husband looks at today is different, there are times he is amazed himself of my confidence, composure and courage. All this has come from Jesus! God shaped David into the future king in the wilderness!
God shaped me too in the wilderness! He would shape you too! Cheer up!
1 Samuel 23:18 “So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house. “
Oh, how I love these words: “David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house!” Though he is left behind in the woods, open to the attack of the enemy, while his beloved friend would be going back to his own house, yet we see David not getting emotional about it. Earlier we see him sob like a kid when Jonathan left him, but now we see a different David here, he no more wept when his friend Jonathan bid him good bye. Why? David has found another friend and that’s GOD!
Dear friend, there will be times when people will have to get back to their own home, but remember you’ve got One who will stay close to you always. However close or intimate may you be with anyone, yet you may have to separate one day, but God says, “I am with you always”(Mathew 28:20) It took a while for David to understand God’s love for Him. Having fled from his home, wife, friend, palace, without even a roof above his head and with an enemy hounding him day and night, now David begins to find security in God. This was the greatest turning point in his life! He found a stronghold where he could hide where no one could reach him, where no enemy dare touch him! The Bible says, in 1 Samuel 23:14 “And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.”
Friend, we can never sing like David, “I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold”, if we have not gone through what David went through. Jesus cannot walk into your heart when it is filled with the world. Got that? I had been holding on to many relationships close to my heart, but God had to tare me apart from such strongholds so the He could be my only Stronghold. Several years back, I remember the day I ran sobbing behind the train which was carrying my mom, who was leaving to go to another town in India. How silly! Yes, I was! I was no kid though, I was a mother of a kid then! Astonished, my husband saw my tears of anguish! One after the other God took me through a series of painful process of separation and consecration. You cannot be consecrated without being separated
I still vividly remember the picture of the railway station today, you give me a canvass, I can paint it. God took me from there and made me the kind of woman now who speaks words of encouragement to the hearts of many everyday around the world. The woman my husband looks at today is different, there are times he is amazed himself of my confidence, composure and courage. All this has come from Jesus! God shaped David into the future king in the wilderness!
God shaped me too in the wilderness! He would shape you too! Cheer up!
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