Fear Not, Have Courage

This is the spirit of winners. The cowards cannot make it in the times we are in, nor can they make it to heaven (Rev. 21.8). This is a season where we refuse to sit and watch, but rather jump in the waters and do what the Lord wants us to do. For a very long time in Kenya, Christians have lived a life of being mocked; this one time, the turnaround has come. The Lord has turned another page, for the believers to arise and shine their light, for God to be glorified.

The Lord delights when we are happy, when we are walking in victory in every area of life. The Lord is not coming for a defeated and crying church, but rather for a victorious and celebrating church. It is true the Lord went to prepare for us a place. In the meantime, let us have courage and strength to do that which He has called us to do. We must triumph over anything that makes us lesser than the best.

Failure to become what God wants us to be is failure to glorify God. We need courage to complete the process that will make God be glorified in our situations.

Romans 8:19

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

People have to see God work in you for them to believe in your God. The whole creation is waiting for the sons of God to take their positions and represent God well, for them also to know our God and believe in Him.

1 Samuel 17:10-11, 23-26, 31-37, 41-54

¹⁰ And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together." ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

²³ Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. ²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. 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." ²⁶ 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?"

³¹  Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him.³² Then David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 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."  ³⁴ But David said to Saul, "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, ³⁵ 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.

 ³⁶ "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." 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!"

⁴¹ So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him.⁴² And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. ⁴³ So the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" 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. ⁴⁶ "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ "Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands."

 ⁴⁸ So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.. ⁴⁹ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 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. ⁵² Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. ⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

Have courage; be fearless, and you will overcome. Jesus has overcome the world; we will walk in victory and triumph. Jesus was so confident and courageous that He would overcome (John 16:33), which is how we need to be confident, knowing we have already overcome, through and in Him. Courage is defined as the ability and willingness to do something that frightens.

The One we follow and live in and the One who surrounds us is courageous, with a kind of courage that cannot be compared to any other. Because of Him, we cannot afford not to be courageous. Whatever had come to destroy us will witness our victory, just as the Philistines witnessed the victory of David.

Those people who have courage will speak boldly.

Courageous people understand the weapon of gospel and speak it and their speech and courage is based on the word of God.

Courageous people look at what the Lord has done in the past, and walk in this courage in the future. If the Lord has never done anything for you in the past, He will never do it even in future. This is what David did, reflect on what the Lord had done for him in the past, helping him defeat the bear and lion, and this helped in giving him courage. If you want to be a person who always walks in courage, learn to reflect on what God did for you in the past, and keeping track of what He keeps doing for you. Recall and record the times He rescued you from drugs, sicknesses, etc.

What is that problem that is looking like a big mountain? Look at the Lord who brought you from that the far that you have come from, for what He did, and all your problems will appear like a very small thing. Your head makes it look like a big thing, but when you recall the faithfulness of the Lord before, the problem shrinks back.

David was 100% sure of the power in the name of the Lord, and that’s why he said that though Goliath was coming to him with spear and javelin, David was going to him in the name of the Lord.

Lessons picked from the story of David:

1.  Know your God:

Daniel 11:32

…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

David knew who he was, and who his God is, and that’s why he was fearless. When you know your God, you will be fearless.

Exodus 3 (study)

If you know your God cannot do it, do not dare to move. God, in telling Moses Who He is, and showing Him the miracles, was making him courageous. He was trying to make him understand the things his God could do. After this, Moses was courageous to talk to the children of Israel, and even Pharaoh. If you have seen God do you miracles, do not keep it to yourself; tell it to others, let them know what God has done for you, and let them see your courage. Just like Moses, get up and go to those places you have always been afraid of. If it is that business that you have always been afraid of starting, take courage and go and start it.

1 Kings 18 (study)

It took courage for Elijah to do what he did, calling for fire from heaven after taunting the prophets of the false gods, and represent his God.

Study also Daniel 3 and 6

Joshua 1:6, 9

⁶ Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

Do not wait until the ground is softer. The land you are going to is already occupied, but the Lord is saying, “Do not be afraid,” for He is going with you. Do not wait until other shops are closed for you to open yours, nor for preachers to stop preaching for you to start preaching after creating a space for you, or for singers to stop singing for you to start using your gift; go forth, in prayer and by the word of God, and take your position, to glorify God.

1 Chrronicles 28:20

And David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God—my God—will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Who is it that you want to fear? God or your circumstances? Get the courage to progress.

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Be courageous; the Lord will uphold you.

1 Corinthians 16:13

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

Walk with courage, do not be afraid.

Heb. 13:6

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶ So we may boldly say:“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

2 Tim. 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

1 Thessalonians 2:2

But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.

2. Be sure of your dwelling place. 

Psalm 91.

People with courage look inexperienced, but God does not work with experience. Walk through that door that seems closed courageously. Let God be your dwelling place, and always follow His word and will and you will triumph over all trials and problems, walking in courage.

Therefore, to conclude our message today, let us always remember that God has already done everything that we will ever need to be done, he has already given us everything that we will need to live victoriously; as we have learnt that Jesus assured us that he has already overcome the world for us and has already deprived it of power to harm us. The only ingredient left for us believers to live a life of victory and triumph as God has called us to live, is to draw courage from what he has told us in his word and drop any fears that might try to hinder us, and we will surely walk in victory everyday and in every aspect of our lives here on earth. In a mathematical sense we can summarize our lesson today by an equation: Adding courage from God’s word to our lives and substracting fear of the devil from the same lives equals to a victorious life.

Blessings.

-- Pastor Mary Mugo. 


(20/07/14 Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.) 

Pastor Mary is the Senior Pastor at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.