August 15, 2021
https://www.facebook.com/Encountertexoma/videos/803444353635381
“In a pit with a lion on a snowy day” by Mark Batterson
2 Samuel 23:20-21 NLT
20 There was also Benaiah, He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions[b] of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. 21 Once, armed only with a club, he killed an imposing Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it. son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. 21 Once, armed only with a club, he killed an imposing Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.
1. Moving forward
Exodus 14:15 NKJV
And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
A. Moving forward shows God that we have faith and that we believe He will be with us.
James 2:14 (NLT)
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
B. We must forget our past and our circumstances and just have faith
Philippians 3:13 (NLT)
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
John 5:1-9 (NLT)
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,[a] with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.[b] 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
The man sick for 38 years, he had to believe what Jesus said.
Israel was kept out of the Promised Land for 40 years cause they refused to move forward. It wasn’t until they moved forward that they got there.
2. The battle
We are surprised when God gives us a sword and tells us to jump in the pit
A. We must never retreat even when the odds are against us
In every fight we see Benaiah in the odds are against him, but he never retreats
B. Have faith that God is with you
Deuteronomy 20:1-4
20 “When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you! 2 When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops. 3 He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. 4 For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’
Even when though we know God already gave us the victory, we still have to go to battle
Ephesians 6:10-11NLT
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
Our weapons for our battle
1.Prayer
2.Worship
3.Bible (Word of God)
3.The Victory
When move forward into battle while being Faith-Full is when we allow God to do miracles in our lives that we could never imagine
A. Our outcome is not only just the small victories.
Benaiah didn’t just have the small victories.
2 Samuel 23:23NLT
He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.
God was able to use all those victories to bless Benaiah more than he could ever imagine
Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,