“The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel.”

1 Samuel 17:25

The spirit of negativity is one of the most destructive enemies that the children of God face. Although it moves in different ways, it always seeks the same objective: to prevent believers from moving forward in conquest and showing fruit that glorifies God’s name. The powerful army of Israel led by the King Saul was paralyzed before the giant Goliath, who used intimidation to defy the whole the army. He demanded that only one warrior confront him, but nobody dared fight against him. The giant did not stop harassing and intimidating Saul’s army for forty days. The more they heard him, the more those warriors were terrified.

Negativity operates in the center of the mind and defies the person that fights against it. It forces the person to believe that God has let him down and that he has no strength to defeat it. It drives him to accept all kinds of negative and destructive images by presenting a hopeless future where desolation and death are the only experiences.

In the midst of all the frustration of the army, a young boy emerged. He was a brave warrior who did not use their weapons. He was someone who was trained by the angelic army. He had learned the language of faith and knew how to put God’s promises into practice, like powerful missiles activated by prayer and faith to ruin the enemy’s camp. This young boy was concerned with what seemed the most shameful display of the army of Israel. Although David knew in his heart that he was able to defeat the giant, he wanted to know what the reward was in advance.

• The king would enrich him with lots of wealth. This is the prize for those who defeat the spirit of negativity. The King of Glory will open the heavens to bless him with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3).

• The king would give his daughter to be his wife. God will reward him with a solid and blessed home, and with a spouse that has a heart for God.

• The king would exempt the house of his father from all taxes. The blessing obtained as a result of victory will reach our family.

David represents the fresh idea of God that forms us into winners. When God’s thinking is rooted in the mind of one of His children, He gives them the strength to defeat even the most ruthless giants. Thus, while facing Goliath, David said, “This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:46).

Henry Ford said, “The secret of a successful life is to discover that we are destined to do something, and then do it.” When did David learn that he would be the king over the nation of Israel? At the moment the Prophet Samuel anointed him with oil. At that moment, David expanded his vision, stopped thinking just of himself started to think of the people of Israel. When he saw the giant Goliath defying the people, David was conscious that he had the anointing and the support of God to fight and to defeat him. David perceived the situation as an opportunity given by God to make him shine.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“I surrendered my heart to the Lord when I was 18 years old, and I have been in the church for 12 years. One of my hardest fights on the path of faith has been those battles concerning the heart. Even though I was in the church, profound fears, low self-esteem, the periods of depression I went through, were not easy at all. As years went by, clinging to the Lord, I often thought about the roots and curses in my family line manifested in each of the areas, and I realized that there was a curse over my emotions.

All my aunts were single mothers; their husbands left them with their children, while others got divorced. My grandmother, who was a single mother, lost her husband in an accident when she was very young. My father died some years ago, leaving my mother single. The years passed and the possibility of getting married became more and more distant. It seemed like an impossible dream in my life.

In the midst of my struggles, I thought I would never be happy. All of my friends got married but my turn did not come. One day when Pastor Cesar Castellanos preached about the shedding of the blood of Jesus, I was able to understand the revelation of the power of His blood shed through the crown of thorns. Knowing this gift that came from His Cross together with intercession and the visualization of the miracle became the key to conquer my emotions. I discovered the God who restored my emotions and my heart, and a year and a half ago I met the man that God had for me.” (Maribel Mañunga)

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“Due to my faith in the promise of God, the giant of fear is defeated and I become more than a conqueror.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Four.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

• Old Testament: Lamentations 3; Song of Songs 8:1-7
• New Testament: John 7:14-24; 1 Peter 5:1-7