Encourage Yourself

When the struggle is at its realest. You have to encourage yourself.

King James Version Chapter 30

30 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; 2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

1 Samuel 30:17–19 KJV 1900

And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

:17-19

These past few days have benn pretty heavy. It seems sickness is attacking us. Personal relationships are in a upheaval and our country is seems to be heading towards some unprecedented troubling times. Hurricanes and Wildfires are plaguing our land. Depression and suicide are rising in our world.

For many of us, it seems like the world is crashing in on us. Some of us just need a minute to get it together.

I want us all to know that we are not alone and that its okay to encourage yourself when it seems everyone and everything is against you.

In our text, David just came back from being rejected by the Philistines. They didn’t want him to fight with him. He also was running from Saul who was trying to kill, him. Saul knew David was anointed King. So David was already on the run but he was still doing the will of the Lord. and he comes back to his village to get some R&R but he came back to his worst nightmare. His villiage has been destroyed and his people had been kidnapped. But Look at God, they were not destroyed.

So in chapter 30, David is returning back to his village Ziklag.

But regardless, David was felling mighty bad. Are you feeling real bad right now?

I want to encourage you today but just in case you don’t feel the encouragement that I pray for you, I want you to know you have the power to encourage yourself in the Lord

You have to first recognize you are not alone and that God is with you. You have to constantly remember God is with you. We are told in Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

You have to know you are anointed and not just appointed. There is a difference. You see David was anointed… When you are anointed, you have to know that God has your back and he wants you in His Flock.

When God Anoints you…Man can’t unappoint you. So and when things go array, we have to reset and go back to where we began. We have to be renewed daily. When you wake up, you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, Thank you Lord for Life and for being my constant companion.

When God Anoints you…Man can’t unappoint you. So regardless what people say, regardless what the doctor says, regardless of your circumstances, you have to remember that God is with you and not just that he wants you! How about that! The Creator of Heaven and Earth, The God of Eve, Rebeka, Hannah, David, and Paul, wants You! Now that’s enough to be encouraged…Can I get an Amen

We have to remember we have a purpose and a mission and when things go array, we have to reset and go back to where we begin. We have to be renewed daily. When you wake up, you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, Thank you Lord for Life and for being my constant companion.

We have to remember we have a purpose and a mission and when things go array, we have to reset and go back to where we begin. We have to be renewed daily. When you wake up, you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, Thank you Lord for Life for being my constant companion.

Next We have to go to God for guidance. I recently preached about crossroads and I encouraged the saints to stay connected with the Source. Because the Lord is our Guide. says the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear. Yahowah is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid. If we don’t have God we will always find ourselves feeling lost and at a crossroads, but there is good news…we have a Shephard that we can go too and ask for guidance. David said Lord what should I do? I just lost everything and now the people who have been loyal to me are wanting to kill me. David could have done a lot of things. But what David didn’t do was turn on his people. He could have easily said forget yall. He didn’t blame himself, He didn’t blame God. Instead he placed his trust in the Lord.

And then he got his marching orders and what did the scripture tell us he went and recovered all that was taken. So Lastly, after we encourage ourselves in the Lord and ask God for direction, we have to get back up and keep on pressing towards the mark. We have a job to do and God has annointed us for this job because He wants us!

So beloved, There are going to be some hardships and short comings but that can’t stop us, we gotta keep on keeping one.

The Lord will always provide and the Lord will give you peace and direction in our time of needs.

So Beloveds of God. Lets take time and rese. If you have breath in your lungs, I invite you to Praise the Lord through pain and go recover all that was taken.

Lets Pray

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THE GO

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., –Mk). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

THE GO

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., –Mk). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

American Standard Version. (1995). (). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Its seem like we are all going through a test right now. One of the things