Reclaiming What The Enemy Stole

Intro

open with prayer

ask you to take control of the conversations and the discussion

help us to hear what you are saying to us

Reclaiming What The Enemy Stole

we will be in 1 Samuel 30 I have the Legacy Standard Bible

topic everyone relates to because the enemy does steal . John 10:10“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”

the enemy has taken something that belongs to us

Joy | peace of mind | happiness

more profound our health| our financial security

Bishop taught on Sunday the truth about the enemy

He has no power except what we give him

there is nothing that is not subject to Christ Hebrews 2:8

If you are in Christ

No matter what you’ve lost or how much the enemy has taken from you God will restore

The problem

Sometimes the situation we find ourselves in can seem too much

we allow the situation to overwhelm us

I used to work for NCR transferred here from Charlotte

Got laid off after being here for a year

I felt like a complete failure

this was for sure overwhelming for me

being a provider is one thing that my Dad taught me that I

I felt like I had let everyone down. I was pressured into returning to CLT

Stopped listening to people and listened to GOD

i was defeated until i stood on what God said

Today I am making 3 times more than I did at NCR

If I did what people were telling me

would not be where I am today.

How do we take back what the enemy stole?

I have 5 points from 1 Samuel 30 then we will sign off

Before that some background information

Ziqlag was a city given to David by a philistine King 1 Samuel 27 read about that

David went through a very significant loss

1 Samuel 30:1–5

1 the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag and burned it with fire2 and they took captive the women and children 3 Then David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 So David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.”

this is very devastating

Can you imagine losing everything? you come home and your house is burned to the ground?

Lets see what we can learn by how David handled this loss

Encourage yourself 1

1 Samuel 30:6 (LSB)

6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people said to stone him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.

my kids were upset at me for bringing them to Ohio just so i could lose my job just like these people were with David. why did you bring us here

What can you do to strengthen yourself in the Lord? How would you encourage yourself?

Remember that God loves you

Remember his promises Deuteronomy 28:1-14 blessings

blessed in the City blessed in the field. Head and not the tail

Remember was Christ redeemed us from also in

Deuteronomy 28:15-61 says the curse of the Law is sickness, poverty and spiritual death

Remember that he is faithful

once you encourage yourself you then seek

Seek the Lord with everything 2

1 Samuel 30:7–8 (LSB)

7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod near to me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. 8 And David asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely deliver all.”

Abiathar (ʾěḇ·yā·ṯār ) אֶבְיָתָ֤ר

Ahimelech (ʾǎḥî·mě·lěḵ) אֲחִימֶ֔לֶךְ

Ephod (ʾē·p̄ōḏ) הָאֵפֹ֖ד

Does anyone know the significance of the Ephod?

ephod is like an apron with 12 stones representing the tribes

significance it was worn by the high priest when they needed to communicate with God

notice this is limited information

the most important thing is you must block out every other person’s voice and communicate with the Father

Get the answer from God not from people including yourself

The Holy Spirit who lives inside has the answer

After hearing from God the next step is you have to act

Act on his instructions 3

1 Samuel 30:9–10 LSB

9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.

David got the confirmation to pursue from God.He said pursue for you will overtake them

But Realize that his Men probably doubted him

Sometimes you will get folks who will question whether or not you heard from God

Don’t let others frustrate you

In the process of acting on what God said continue to walk in the spirit

show love towards others 4

1 Samuel 30:11–12 LSB

11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David and gave him bread, and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. 12 And they gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

even though David losing everything was frustrating and his men doubting him, David showed love and mercy here

this is no time for malice Envy or getting someone back

if David didn’t stop and help the Egyptian, he would not have recieved critical information about who burned the city

1 Samuel 30:13–15 “13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a slave of an Amalekite; and my master forsook me when I fell sick three days ago. 14 “We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites and on that which belongs to Judah and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not put me to death or surrender me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.””

צִקְלַג (ṣiq·lǎḡ)

God rewards faithfulness and obedience

the slave revealed everything about who destroyed Ziklag

You don’t always know in the beginning what the outcome will be

after that we see David continued

continue until change comes 5

1 Samuel 30:16–17 LSB

16 So he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and celebrating because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 Then David struck them down from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.

David struck them down for a long time and recovered everything that was stolen

verse 19 says that David brought everything back and nobody was harmed

God had something better for me. today I make three times more money than when i worked at NCR and I don’t have to work any weekends

summarize

How to you take back what the enemy stole from you?

You must encourage yourself

Seek God for the answer

Act on what God revealed to you

show love towards others

continue until change happens

thank you for your word it’s the truth and never a lie

thank you for your sprit it leads us into all truth

give us the strength to and ability to encourage ourselves in you

no matter what we face, no matter what comes our way

help us to declare, in any situation,

that you are good you are kind and you are faithful